PRINCETON,    N.    J. 


SAel/. 


Division . .  >SD.  .O.  .CL  fe .  l  O 
Seciion  ?..0..).i3.^.... 
Number 


AN 


Illustrated  Commentary 


ON 


THE   GOSPEL   ACCORDING   TO 


ST.   JOHN. 


FOR  FAMILY  USE  AND  REFERENCE,  AND  FOR  THE  GREAT  BODY 
OF  CHRISTIAN  WORKERS  OF  ALL  DENOMINATIONS. 


By  LYMAN  ABBOTT,   D.  D., 

AUTHOR    OF    A    SERIES    OF    COMMENTARIES     ON    THE    NEW    TESTAMENT. 


A.     S.     BARNES     &     COMPANY, 

NEW  YORK,  CHICAGO,  AND  NEW  ORLEANS. 

I  8  79. 


gY    THE    EQITQIi    OF    THIS     WOI^K. 


A     POPULAR     COMMENTARY 


NEW     TESTAMENT; 

WITH    MAPS,     ILLUSTRATIONS,     AN    INTRODUCTION    TO    THE    STUDY    OF    THE    NEW    TESTAMENT, 

A    CONDENSED    LIFE    OF    CHRIST    AND    A    TABULAR    HARMONY    OF    THE    GOSPELS, 

CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE    AND    GAZETTEER. 

IN     TWO    SIZES. 


FWST  8EI^IE8.  FOUIl    VOLUMES.      Ljilf&E  8vo. 

Very   sumptuously    printed  and    bound,    on    toned    paper   with    wide   margin. 
Volume     I.      MATTHE^A/^    AND    MARK. 
"           II.       LUKE     AND    JOHN. 

(the     remaining     volumes     of     this     series     in     PREPARATION.) 

BECOJTQ    SEI^IES.        EIG-HT    VOLUJVTEa.        8vo. 
A  handy  edition  for  Christian  workers. 
Volume    I.     MATTHEW. 

"  II.     MARK     AND     LUKE. 

"        III.     JOHN. 

"        IV.    THE    ACTS    OF    THE    APOSTLES. 

(the     REMAINING     VOLUMES     OF     THIS     SERIES     IN     PREPARATION.) 

For  Sale  by  Subscription.     Persons  oivntng  any  volume  of  either  Series  may  obtain  the 
other  volumes  by  addressing  the  Publishers. 


Copyright,  1879,  by  -A.  S.  Barnes  &'  Co. 


JACOB    ABBOTT 


WHOSE    WRITINGS    HAVE    INTERPRETED    THE    GOSPEL    TO 

INNUMERABLE    READERS  ; 

WHOSE    LIFE    HAS    EVEN    MOKE    ILLUSTRIOUSLY    MANIFESTED    ITS    SPIRIT 

TO    ALL    WHO    HAVE    KNOWN    HIM  ; 

AND    WHO,    BOTH    BY    EXAMPLE    AND    PRECEPT,     HAS    TAUGHT 

HIS    CHILDREN    TO    VALUE    THE    SPIRIT    OF    CHRIST    ABOVE    ALL    FORMS, 

AND    CHRIST    HIMSELF    ABOVE    ALL    CREEDS, 

THIS    EXPOSITION    OF    THE    GOSPEL 

IS    AFFECTIONATELY    AND    REVERENTLY    DEDICATED    BT 

HIS    SON. 


TO  ALL  THE  VOLUMES  OF  THIS  SERIES  OF  COMMENTARIES. 


THE  object  of  this  Commentary  is  to  aid  in  their  Christian  work  those 
who  are  endeavoring  to  promote  the  knowledge  of  the  principles 
which  Jesus  Christ  came  to  propound  and  establish— clergymen,  Christian 
parents,  Sunday-School  teachers,  Bible-women,  lay-preachers.  Intended 
for  Christian  workers,  it  aims  to  give  the  results  rather  than  the  processes 
of  scholarship,  the  conclusions  rather  than  the  controversies  of  scholars ; 
intended  for  laymen  as  well  as  for  clergymen,  it  accompanies  the  English 
version  of  the  New  Testament,  in  all  references  to  the  original  Greek  gives 
the  English  equivalent,  and  translates  all  quotations  from  the  French, 
German,  Latin  and  Greek  authors. 

The  introduction  to  Volume  I  contains  a  statement  of  those  prin- 
ciples of  interpretation  which  appear  to  me  to  be  essential  to  the  correct 
understanding  of  the  Word  of  God.  This  Commentary  is  the  result  of  a 
conscientious  endeavor  to  apply  those  principles  to  the  elucidation  of  the 
New  Testament. 

It  is  founded  on  a  careful  examination  of  the  latest  and  best  text ;  such 
variations  as  are  of  practical  or  doctrinal  importance  are  indicated  in  the 
notes.  It  is  founded  on  the  original  Greek  ;  wherever  that  is  inadequately 
rendered  in  our  English  version,  a  new  translation  is  afforded  by  the  notes. 
The  general  purpose  of  the  writer  or  speaker,  and  the  general  scope  of  the 
incident  or  teaching,  is  indicated  in  a  Preliminary  Note  to  the  passage,  or 
in  an  analysis,  a  paraphrase,  or  a  general  summary  at  the  close.  Special 
topics  are  treated  in  preliminary  or  supplementary  notes.  The  results  of  re- 
cent researches  in  Biblical  archaeology  have  been  embodied,  so  as  to  make 
the  Commentary  serve  in  part  the  purpose  of  a  Bible  Dictionary.  A  free 
use  is  made  of  illustrations,  from  antiques,  photographs,  original  drawings, 
and  other  trustworthy  sources.  They  are  never  employed  for  mere 
ornament,  but  always  to  aid  in  depicting  the  life  of  Palestine,  which 
remains  in  many  respects  substantially  unchanged  by  the  lapse  of  time. 
Since  the  Commentary  is  prepared,  not  for  devotional  reading,  but  for 
practical  workers,  little  space  has  been  devoted  to  hortatory  remarks  or 
practical  or  spiritual  reflections.  But  I  have  uniformly  sought  to  interpret 
the  letter  by  the  spirit,  and  to  suggest  rather  than  to  supply  moral  and 
spiritual  reflections,  a  paragraph  of  hints  is  affixed  to  each  section  or  topic, 
embodying  what  appears  to  me  to  be  the  essential  religious  lessons  of  the 


Vi  PREFACE. 

incident  or  the  teaching ;  sometimes  a  note  is  appended  elucidating 
them  more  fully.  The  best  thoughts  of  the  best  thinkers,  both  exegetical 
and  homiletical,  are  freely  quoted,  especially  such  as  are  not  likely  to  be 
accessible  to  most  American  readers ;  in  all  such  cases  the  thought  is 
credited  to  the  author.  Parallel  and  contrasted  passages  of  Scripture  are 
brought  together  in  the  notes ;  in  addition,  full  Scripture  references  arc 
appended  to  the  text.  These  are  taken  substantially  from  Bagster's  large 
edition  of  the  English  version  of  the  Polyglot  Bible,  but  they  have  been 
carefully  examined  and  verified  in  preparing  for  the  press,  and  some 
modifications  have  been  made.  For  the  convenience  of  that  large  class  of 
Christian  workers  who  are  limited  in  their  means,  I  have  endeavored  to 
make  this  Commentary,  as  far  as  practicable,  a  complete  apparatus  for  the 
study  of  the  New  Testament.  When  finished  it  will  be  fully  furnished 
with  maps  ; — there  are  four  in  this  volume  ;  a  Gazetteer  gives  a  condensed 
account  of  all  the  principal  places  in  Palestine,  mentioned  in  our  Lord's 
life ;  and  an  introduction  traces  the  history  of  the  New  Testament  from 
the  days  of  Christ  to  the  present,  giving  some  account  of  the  evidence  and 
nature  of  inspiration,  the  growth  of  the  canon,  the  character  and  history 
of  the  manuscripts,  the  English  version,  the  nature  of  the  Gospels  and 
their  relation  to  each  other,  a  brief  life  of  Christ,  and  a  complete  tabular 
harmony  of  the  four  Gospels. 

The  want  of  all  who  use  the  Bible  in  Christian  work  is  the  same.  The 
wish  is  often  for  a  demonstration  that  the  Scripture  sustains  the  reader's 
peculiar  theological  tenets,  but  the  want  is  always  for  a  clearer  and  better 
knowledge  of  Scripture  teaching,  whether  it  sanctions  or  overturns  previous 
opinions.  I  am  not  conscious  that  this  work  is  written  in  the  interest  of 
any  theological  or  ecclesiastical  system.  In  those  cases  in  which  the  best 
scholars  are  disagreed  in  their  interpretation,  the  different  views  and  the 
reasons  which  lead  me  to  my  own  conclusions  have  been  given,  I  trust,  in 
no  controversial  spirit.  For  the  sole  object  of  this  work  is  to  ascertain 
and  make  clear  the  meaning  of  the  Word  of  God,  irrespective  of  systems, 
whether  ecclesiastical  or  doctrinal. 

No  work  is  more  delightful  than  that  which  throws  us  into  fellowship 
with  great  minds ;  of  all  work  the  most  delightful  is  that  which  brings  us 
into  association  with  the  mind  of  God.  This  is  the  fellowship  to  which  the 
student  of  the  Bible  aspires.  I  can  have  for  those  who  use  this  work  no 
higher  hope  than  that  they  may  find  in  its  employment  some  of  the  happi- 
ness which  I  have  found  in  its  preparation,  and  that  it  may  serve  them  as 
it  has  served  me,  as  a  guide  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  through  that  Word 
to  a  better  acquaintance  with  God  himself. 

CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON,  May,  1875.  LYMAN    ABBOTT. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


THE    GOSPEL    OF    JOHN. 

Page 

Introduction •_ ^ 

Supplementary  Notes — 

On  the  Introduction  to  John's  Gospel IB 

The  Incarnation 21 

The  Lamb  of  God 24 

Christ's  Example  in  the  Use  op  Wine 33 


Christ  as  a  Conversationalist. 


58 


Christ's  Discourse  on  the  Bread  of  Life 83 

The  Woman  Taken  in  Adultery 105 

The  Parable  of  the  Sheepfold 125 

The  Resurrection  of  Lazarus 135, 145 

The  Anointing  of  Jesus 


.150 


The  Lord's  Supper. 


.162 


Christ's  Last  Discourse  with  his  Disciples 171 


The  Parable  of  the  Vine. 


.185 


201 

Christ's  Intercessory  Prayer *"^ 

The  Character  of  Pontius  Pilate 231 

The  Character  of  John's  Gospel 240 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Most  of  the  engravings  in  this  volume  liave  been  drawn  and  engraved  expressly  for  this 
work  ;  some  from  original  sketches  by  Mr.  A.  L.  Rawson,  others  from  careful  study  from  the 
best  accessible  authorities,  by  Mr.  R.  F.  Zogbaum. 

Page 

Cana  of  Galilee 29 

An  Oriental  Wedding 39 

Water-pots  and  Ewers 31 

SUBSTRCCTURES   OF   THE   TeMPLE 34 

Plan  and  Section  of  the  Temple 36 

The  Expulsion  of  the  Traders 36 

Eastern  Money-changer 37 

A  Modern  Jewish  Rabbi 41 

Traditional  Site  of  Enon 48 

Jacob's  Well 52 

Jesus  at  the  Well 54 

Samaritan  Remains  in  Gerizim 60 

Church  over  the  Pool  of  Bethesda 63 

Bethsaida 77 

Tiberias 85 

Booth  on  the  Housetop 96 

Officers  of  the  Chief  Priest 104 

The  Mount  of  Olives 107 

The  Woman  and  her  Accusers 108 

An  Eastern  Sheepfold 126 

Fell  at  His  Feet 142 

Resurrection  of  Lazarus 146 

Bethany 151 

Anointing  of  the  Feet 153 

Ancient  Money-bag 153 

Washing  of  Feet 163 

Dipping  the  Sop 168 

Torches 213 

Ancient  Fire  UTExsn.s. .' 214 

Denials  of  Peter 315 

Jesus  before  Pilate 217 

Roman  Judgment-seat 231 

He  Girt  his  Fisher's  Coat  unto  him 335 

Ancient  Bread 236 


THE    GOS 


JOHN. 


INTRODUCTION. 


From  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  to 
near  the  close  of  the  seventeenth,  the  Fourth 
Gospel  was  by  a  common  and  substantially  a 
unanimous  consent  attributed  to  the  Apostle 
John.  This  authorship  was  then  questioned,  at 
first  by  an  English  critic  by  the  name  of  Evanson. 
The  discussion  was  soon  transferred  to  Germany, 
where  it  waxed  warm,  and  whence  it  was  again 
transferred  to  England  and  this  country.*  It 
may  now  be  regarded  as  the  most  hutly  con- 
tested question  in  biblical  criticism.  The  con- 
troversy has  been  intensified  by  prejudices  and 
feeling  on  both  sides.  It  is  indeed  impossible  to 
discuss  it  with  cool  indifference,  as  a  mere  mat- 
ter of  curious  literary  interest.  If  this  Gospel 
was  written  by  the  Apostle  John,  we  have  the 
testimony  of  an  undoubted  eye-witness — not  his 
conclusions  but  his  account  of  facts  in  respect 
to  which  he  could  not  well  be  deceived — certainly 
not,  unless  we  are  prepared  to  believe  that  Jesus 
was  himself  a  deliberate  deceiver ;  testimony  of 
an  eye-witness  whose  honesty  not  even  the  most 
resolute  skepticism  would  or  could  well  call  in 
question.  This  testimony  would  establish  be- 
yond question  such  facts  as  the  miraculous  feed- 
ing of  the  five  thousand,  the  healing  of  the  man 
born  blind,  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus,  and  the 
death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus  himself.  In 
other  words,  it  would  establish  beyond  the  pos- 
sibility of  reasonable  question,  the  truth  of 
historical  Christianity.  Accordingly,  Renan,  who 
to  a  certain  extent  accepts  the  authenticity  of 
the  Fourth  Gospel,  is  compelled  to  maintain  that 
the  pretended  resurrection  of  Lazarus  was  a 
pious  fraud  to  which  Jesus  lent  himself  because 
it  was  necessary  to  the  success  of  his  mission, 
and  because  his  growing  religious  enthusiasm 
justified  to  his  conscience  this  means,  for  the 
sake  of  the  end  to  be  accomplished  by  it.  More- 
over, we  have  in  this  Gospel  a  report  of  words  of 
Jesus,  which  leave  to  us  no  alternative  but  to 
accept  him  as  in  a  peculiar  sense  the  Son  of 
God,  or  to  regard  him  either  as  a  religious 
impostor  or  a  religious  enthusiast.  The  synop- 
tics leave  some  opportunity  for  discussion  as  to 
the  place  which  Jesus  assumed  to  fill.  The 
Fourth  Gospel  does  not.     Thus  the  question  of 

*  For  same  account  in  detail  of  these  discnssions, 
see  Godet's  Commentary  on  St.  John's  Gospel,  Intro., 
Chap.  II. 


the  authorship  of  this  Gospel  is  not  merely  a 
question  in  literary  criticism,  but  even  more  one 
respecting  the  nature  of  Christianity.  Accord- 
ingly we  find,  on  the  one  hand,  the  advocates 
of  its  apostolic  authorship  more  or  less  resting 
their  belief  upon  the  inherent  beauty  of  the 
book,  and  the  opponents  more  or  less  declaring 
the  true  ground  of  their  opposition  to  it,  viz., 
that  it  presents  what  they  call  a  mythological 
view  of  Jesus,  and  a  dogmatic  view  of  his 
teachings ;  in  other  words,  that  it  presents 
Jesus  distinctively  as  the  incarnate  Son  of  God, 
and  represents  the  central  truth  in  his  teaching 
to  have  been  the  necessity  of  faith  in  him.  Both 
these  aspects  of  truth  are  indeed  presented  in 
the  other  Gospels,  but  not  with  the  same  clear- 
ness, nor  with  the  same  prominence,  as  in  the 
Fourth  Gospel.  Hence  the  latter  is  assailed 
with  peculiar  vigor  by  the  opponents  of  evan- 
gelical Christianity,  and  is,  for  the  same  reason, 
maintained  with  equal  vigor  by  evangelical 
believers.  It  does  not  come  within  the  pro- 
vince of  this  work  to  enter  into  the  details  of 
this  controversy.  To  give  the  arguments,  pro 
and  con,  would  require  a  treatise,  and  for  a 
consideration  of  them  the  reader  is  of  necessity 
referred  to  the  various  works  which  have  been 
written  on  this  subject.  The  student  will  find 
the  most  vigorous  assault  on  the  authenticity 
of  the  Fourth  Gospel  in  the  second  volume 
of  "Supernatural  Religion,"  which,  however, 
must  be  read  with  considerable  allowance  for  a 
scholarship  evidently  warped  by  determined 
prejudices,  and  which  is  certainly  one-sided, 
if  not  absolutely  false  in  many  particulars. 
Among  the  many  defences  of  the  authenticity 
of  the  Gospel,  I  have  found  nothing  more  com- 
prehensive or  satisfactory  than  that  contained  in 
the  first  volume  of  Godet's  Commentary  on  John. 
With  this,  however,  may  be  advantageously 
compared  Luthardt's  "St.  John,  the  Author 
of  the  Fourth  Gospel,"  Prof.  Fisher's  "Super- 
natural Origin  of  Christianity,"  and  the  intro- 
ductions to  the  commentaries,  especially  those 
of  Luthardt,  Lange,  Alford,  Meyer  and  Tho- 
luck.  Here  I  propose  merely  to  set  before  the 
reader  briefly  a  compact  statement  of  the  more 
important  facts  in  the  case,  confining  myself 
mainly  to  those  that  are  undisputed — facts 
which  led  the  world  for  fifteen  centuries  to 
attribute  the  Fourth  Gospel  to  John  without  a 


mTRODUCTION. 


doubt,  and  which  on  a  more  careful  examination 
have  led  the  great  majority  of  scholars  to  adhere 
to  that  conclusion. 

The  Apostle  John.  The  Apostle  John  was 
probably  a  native,  certainly  a  resident,  of  Galilee. 
His  mother,  Salome,*  early  became  a  follower 
of  Jesus.  She  was  probably  one  of  the  women 
of  Galilee  who  accompanied  him  on  his  mission- 
ary tours,  and  ministered  to  him  of  their  sub- 
stance.t  She  was  with  him  on  his  last  journey 
to  Jerusalem,  and  during  the  passion  week,  and 
was  one  of  those  women  who  were  last  at  the 
cross  and  first  at  the  sepulchre.!  Like  the  other 
followers  of  Jesus,  she  anticipated  the  establish- 
ment of  a  temporal  kingdom,  was  ambitious  for 
her  sons  James  and  John,  and  made  an  applica- 
tion for  special  favors  for  them  when  the  king- 
dom should  be  established.  From  a  comparison 
of  Matt.  27  :  56  with  John  19  :  25,  it  would 
appear  that  she  was  own  sister  to  the  Virgin 
Mary,  in  which  case  John  was  own  cousin  to 
Jesus.  This  opinion  is  not  accepted  by  all 
critics,  but  I  believe  it  to  be  the  correct  one. 
See  note  on  John  19  :  25.  John's  father,  Zebe- 
dee,  was  a  well-to-do  fisherman  on  the  shores  of 
the  sea  of  Galilee.  Of  him  we  know  very  little. 
He  was  sufficiently  prosperous  to  own  several 
boats  and  to  hire  men  to  work  for  him.  Tradi- 
tion makes  him  of  noble  birth  ;  and  this  tradition 
is  perhaps  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  John  had 
some  acquaintance  with  the  high-priest. 

John  has  been  characterized  by  those  critics 
who  wish  to  make  out  that  his  character  is  in- 
consistent with  the  idea  of  his  authorship  of  the 
Fourth  Gospel,  as  ignorant  and  unlettered,  on 
the  authority  of  Acts  4  :  13,  and  as  a  vehement 
and  bigoted  Jew  on  the  authority  of  Galatians, 
chap.  II,  and  of  the  peculiar  Hebraic  tone  of  the 
Book  of  Kevelation.  Both  characterizations  are 
quite  gratuitous  assumptions.  In  connection  with 
every  Jewish  synagogue  was  a  parochial  school, 
in  which  the  pupils  were  taught  reading,  writ- 
ing, and  the  rudiments  of  such  natural  sciences 
as  were  then  in  existence.  The  Jewish  children 
of  the  common  people  were  far  better  educated 
than  those  of  Greece  or  Rome.  There  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  John  received  this  com- 
mon education  of  the  age  and  community  in 
which  he  lived,  and  there  is  absolutely  no  i-eason 
whatever  to  suppose  the  contrary.  It  was  only 
by  the  Pharisees  that  John  was  considered  as 
ignorant  and  unlettered,  and  they  affixed  the 
same  stigma  upon  Jesus  himself.§  To  the  Phar- 
isees the  only  learning  worth  the  name  was 
learning  in  the  traditional  lore  of  the  church. 

*  Comp.  Matt.  27  :  56  with  Marl'  15  :  40. 
t  Luke  8  :  3. 

t  Matt.  20  :  20,  21 ;  Mark  15  :  40 ;  16 : 1. 
§  John  7  :  15,  48. 


Of  this  the  Galilean  fisherman  was  Ignorant.  In 
the  eyes  of  a  Pharisee  of  Jerusalem,  Plato  him- 
self would  have  been  ignorant  and  unlearned. 
As  little  reason  is  there  to  believe  that  John  was 
a  vehement  and  bigoted  Jew.  There  is  not  the 
slightest  evidence  that  John  was  among  the 
Judaizing  Christians  to  whom  Paul  so  frequently 
refers,  and  whom  throughout  his  life  he  com- 
bated. With  one  exception,  Judas  Iscariot,  all 
the  twelve  were  taken  from  Galilee.  This  pro- 
vince of  Palestine  was  innocent  of  that  formalism 
and  narrowness  which  characterized  the  southern 
province  of  Judea.  The  people  had  lived  in 
amicable  relations  with  their  heathen  neighbors, 
and  had  intermarried  with  them  ever  since  the 
days  of  the  treaty  of  amity  between  Solomon 
and  the  King  of  Tyre.*  The  line  of  commerce 
between  Damascus  and  the  Mediterranean  lay 
directly  across  this  province.  Mineral  springs  of 
real  or  fancied  value  near  the  southern  coast  of 
the  Sea  of  Gennesaret  made  it  the  summer  resort 
of  the  wealthy  Romans  of  the  entire  land.  Thus 
history  and  location,  commerce  and  social  rela- 
tions, combined  to  make  the  inhabitants  of 
Galilee  indifferent  to  the  rigid  formalism  of  the 
Judeans,  and  comparatively  free  from  their 
narrow  race  and  religious  prejudices.  Indeed, 
the  two  assertions  that  John  was  ignorant  and 
unlearned,  and  at  the  same  time  a  narrow  and 
bigoted  Jew,  contradict  each  other.  Jewish 
bigotry  and  reverence  for  the  traditional  lore  of 
the  Jewish  church  always  went  together. 

Th3  important  facts  in  the  history  of  John,  so 
far  as  known,  are  few  and  soon  told.  John  the 
Baptist  was  second  cousin  of  Jesus,  and  John  the 
Ajjostle  was  probably,  as  we  have  seen,  his  own 
cousin.  The  two  Johns  were,  therefore,  proba- 
bly acquainted.  At  all  events,  when  the  Baptist 
began  ]ireaching  the  gospel  of  repentance  for  the 
remission  of  sins,  the  Apostle  was  among  his  dis- 
ciples ;  and  when  the  Baptist  pointed  out  Jesus 
as  the  one  whom  God  had  indicated  to  him  as  the 
promised  Messiah,  John  was  among  the  first  to 
leave  the  old  teacher  to  follow  the  new  one. 
This  was,  however,  a  temporary  follov.'ing  only. 
We  next  meet  him  fishing  with  his  father  at  the 
Sea  of  Galilee,  where  Jesus  finds  him  and  his 
brother,  and  calls  them  to  become  permanent 
followers  of  him.  This  summons,  without  hesi- 
tation or  delay,  they  obey.  From  this  time  on- 
ward John  is  the  constant  companion  of  Jesus. 
With  Peter  and  James  he  belongs  to  an  inner  cir- 
cle of  friends :  the  three  are  selected  to  be  the 
sole  witnesses  of  the  resurrection  of  Jairus's 
daughter ;  they  alone  go  up  into  the  Mount  of 
Transfiguration,  and  witness  his  glory  there ; 
they  alone  accompany  him  to  the  Garden  of 
Gethsemane,  and  are  invited  to  be  the  sharers  of 


*  1  Kings   9  :  10,  11. 
Knowledge,  art.  Galilee. 


See  Abbott's  Diet,  of  Rel. 


INTRODUCTION. 


his  sorrow  there ;  when  the  arrest  takes  place, 
aud  all  the  disciples  forsake  their  Master  and 
flee,  John  and  Peter  turn  back  aud  follow  him  to 
the  scene  of  his  trial,  and  the  former,  with  a 
courage  for  which  few  critics  give  him  credit, 
goes  without  concealment,  as  a  disciple,  openly, 
into  the  house  of  Caiaphas,  follows  the  Master  to 
the  trial  before  Pilate,  and  when  the  sentence  of 
crucifixion  is  pronounced,  accompanies  the  pro- 
cession to  the  place  of  execution,  to  remain  by 
the  cross  till  all  is  over.  When  the  news  of  the 
resurrection  is  brought  to  the  disciples,  he  and 
Peter  are  the  first  to  reach  the  sepulchre.  In  the 
subsequent  history  of  the  Church,  as  recorded  in 
the  book  of  Acts,  he  does  not  take  a  prominent 
jjart.  To  him  was  committed  the  care  of  Mary, 
the  mother  of  Jesus,  and  probably  this  sacred 
charge  prevented  him  from  quitting  Palestine 
while  she  lived.* 

For  the  subsequent  history  of  John  we  are  de- 
pendent on  tradition.  This  is,  however,  in  his 
case,  less  uncertain  than  in  many  other  cases. 
As  Christianity  spread  over  the  heathen  world, 
Jerusalem  ceased  to  be  the  centre  of  Christian 
operations ;  but,  while  the  Roman  Empire  contin- 
ued pagan  and  persecuting,  Rome  could  not  take 
the  place  of  Jerusalem,  as  subsequently  it  did. 
Hence,  for  the  first  century,  Asia  Minor  was  the 
great  field  of  missionary  work,  and  Ephesus, 
which  was  the  scene  of  Paul's  greatest  triumphs 
and  most  successful  labors,t  became  the  centre  of 
the  Christian  church.  Here  John  became  settled 
in  his  later  life.  From  this  point  he  seems  to 
have  exercised  an  apostolic  supervision  over  the 
churches  of  all  Asia  Minor.  The  few  traditional 
stories  of  his  old  age  accord  with  what  the  Gos- 
pels indicate  of  his  character.  When  he  could 
no  longer  preach,  it  is  said  that  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  be  carried  into  the  church,  and  to 
repeat  from  the  pulpit  as  the  sum  and  substance 
of  Christian  doctrine,  "Little  children,  love  one 
another ! "  He  was  banished  to  the  island  of 
Patmos,  where,  according  to  the  book  of  Reve- 
lation, he  witnessed  the  vision  therein  recorded. 
He  subsequently  returned  to  Ephesus,  where  it  is 
probable  he  died  at  an  extremely  advanced  age — 
not  much,  if  any,  less  than  a  hundred  years  old. 

The  character  of  John  has  been  strangely 
misconceived.  He  is  with  reason  identified  with 
the  unnamed  "  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved,"  and 
who  at  the  Last  Supper  rested  his  head  on  Jesus' 
bosom ;  the  Epistles  attributed  to  him  breathe  a 
spirit  of  love  ;  the  Gospel  attributed  to  him  is  of 
all  the  Gospels  the  most  spiritual  in  its  tone. 
From  these  premises,  the  character  of  John  has 
been  constructed ;  it  has  been  supposed  that  he 

*  See  John  1  :  .35-3",  notes  :  Matt.  4  :  21 ;  10 :  2  ; 
17  :  1 :  20  •  20  ;  26  :  37  ;  Mark  5  :  37  ;  John  13  :  23  ; 
U  :  2.(j,  27 ;  20  :  1-8 ;  Acts  3:1.  etc. ;  8 :  14-25 ;  Gal.  2 :  9. 

+  Acts,  ch.  19 ;  ch.  20  :  17-:38. 


was  l)y  nature  peculiarly  tender,  gentle,  loving, 
and  spiritually-minded  ;  that  his  was  a  woman's 
character.  He  is  so  portrayed  in  art,  and  to  some 
extent  in  literature  ;  and  the  special  friendship 
which  Christ  has  been  supposed  to  have  enter- 
tained for  him  is  attributed  to  a  character  by 
nature  peculiarly  loveable. 

There  are,  however,  other  considerations  which 
any  such  view  totally  ignores.  James  and  John 
were  by  Jesus  called  Boanerges,  "the  sons  of 
thunder ;"  it  was  John  who  prohibited  a  strange 
disciple  from  casting  out  devils  in  Jesus'  name, 
because  he  followed  not  the  Twelve  ;  it  was  John 
who  desired  to  call  down  fire  from  Heaven  upon 
the  Samaritan  village  which  refused  to  entertain 
his  Master ;  it  was  James  and  John  who,  with 
their  mother,  applied  secretly  to  Jesus  for  the 
highest  oflBces  for  themselves  in  his  anticipated 
kingdom  ;  it  was  John  who  followed  Jesus  into 
the  courtyard  of  the  high-priest,  when  all  the 
other  disciples  forsook  him  and  fled  ;  John  who 
stood  with  the  Galilean  women  near  the  cross  at 
the  time  of  the  crucifixion  ;  John  who  with  Peter 
defied  the  edict  of  the  Sanhedrim  after  the  death 
of  Jesus,  prohibiting  them  from  teaching  or 
speaking  in  his  name.*  These  are  not  the  acts 
of  one  whose  nature  was  characteristically  timid, 
gentle,  or  spiritually-minded.  By  nature  John 
was  ardent,  courageous,  impetuous,  and  not 
more  broad-minded  or  spi7"itually-minded  than 
his  co-disciples.  Indications  of  these  traits  are 
not  wanting,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  in  the 
Gospel  and  the  Epistles  which  bear  his  name. 

But  he  was  of  all  the  Twelve  the  most  recep- 
tive. When  Christ  foretold  his  passion,  Peter 
remonstrated  with  him.  Wlien  Jesus  sfjoke  of 
the  heavenly  mansions  and  of  his  departure  to 
prepare  a  place  therein  for  his  disciples,  Thomas 
expressed  his  doubt  and  his  perplexity  by  the 
question,  "  We  know  not  whither  thou  goest,  and 
how  can  we  know  the  way?"  When  Jesus 
pointed  to  himself  as  the  manifestation  of  the 
Father,  Philip,  dissatisfied,  asked  for  a  direct 
revelation  of  the  Father.  When  Jesus  promised 
to  his  disciples  a  spiritual  manifestation  of  him- 
self, Judas  (not  Iscariot),  after  the  manner  of 
modern  theologj',  desired  to  have  that  manifes- 
tation explained  to  him  before  he  could  accept 
the  truth.  When  Jesus  rebuked  Judas  Iscariot 
for  complaining  of  Mary's  act  in  anointing  her 
Lord,  Judas  was  angered. t  But  we  look  in  vain 
in  the  Gospels  for  any  instance  in  which  John 
expressed  any  rebuke  of  Christ,  or  any  opposi- 
tion to  him,  or  any  doubt  of  his  teaching,  or  de- 
manded any  other  evidence  of  its  truth  than  the 
simple  word  of  his  Lord.     Of  all  the  disciples  the 

*  Mark  3  :  17  ;  Luke  9  :  49-56  ;  Matt.  20  :  20  ;  John 
18  :  15 ;  19  :  26  ;  Acts  4  .- 19,  20. 

t  Matt.  16  :  22;  John  14 :  5,  8,  22;  John  12  :  4,  with 
Matt.  26 :  14. 


6 


INTEODUCTION. 


most  receptive,  he  was  the  one  whose  character 
underwent  the  greatest  and  most  radical  change. 
The  John  that  we  know  is  the  John  transformed 
by  the  renewuig  influence  of  the  spirit  of  Christ ; 
he  is  the  John  that  is  a  new  creature  in  Christ 
Jesus.  He  was,  I  believe,  the  beloved  disciple, 
because  he  was  the  one  in  whom  the  love  of 
Christ  had  the  freest  course  and  wrought  the 
fullest  and  the  largest. results.  This  simple  fact 
must  be  borne  in  mind  in  considering  the  ques- 
tion of  the  internal  evidences  for  and  against  the 
Johannine  authorship  of  the  Gospel. 

The  external  evidence.  Those  who  expect 
to  find  a  demonstration  of  the  Johannine  author- 
ship of  the  Fourth  Gospel  in  the  external  evi- 
dences, will  be  disappointed.  The  literature  of 
the  first  three  centuries  does  not  afford  a  demon- 
stration of  authorship  of  any  ancient  book.  But 
the  authorship  of  John's  Gospel  I  believe  to  be 
as  well  established,  on  a  fair  consideration  of  all 
the  evidence,  external  and  internal,  as  that  of  any 
work  of  the  same  era. 

It  is  not  questioned  by  any  one  that  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  third  centui-y  the  Fourth  Gospel 
was  in  general  use  in  the  churches,  and  univer- 
sally recognized  as  written  by  thj  Apostle  John. 
Eusebius,  Origen,  Tertullian,  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria, are  among  those  who  bear  testimony  to 
this  fact.  The  Fourth  Gosjjel  is  recognized  as 
John's  composition  in  the  canon  of  Muratori, 
A.  D.  17.5  ;  and  by  IreniBus,  who  died  about  302, 
and  who  was  a  pupil  of  Polycarp,  himself  a  pupil 
of  John.  References  to  sayings  of  Jesus  report- 
ed only  by  John  are  also  found  in  the  writings  of 
Tatian,  a.  d,  170,  Justin  Martyr,  a.  d.  120-160, 
and  the  various  Gnostic  writers  of  the  second 
century.  These  references  do  not  conclusively 
prove  the  Johannine  authorship  of  the  Fourth 
Gospel,  for  these  earliest  writers  are  not  accus- 
tomed to  give  the  names  of  authors  from  whom 
they  quote  ;  but  they  do  conclusively  prove  that 
as  early  as  the  first  part  of  the  second  century, 
sayings  of  Christ,  found  only  in  the  Fourth  Gos- 
pel, were  attributed  by  the  Church  to  Jesus. 
The  best  report  of  these  quotations  which  I  have 
seen  is  to  be  found  in  the  second  volume  of 
"Supernatural  Religion,"  and  they  are  there  the 
more  effective  because  the  author  in  vain  en- 
deavors to  break  their  force,  by  what  most 
readers  will  consider  an  ingenious  but  ineffective 
special  pleading.  Let  the  reader  compare  these 
quotations  with  the  parallel  passages  in  theFourth 
Gospel ;  he  will  not  doubt  that  the  later  writers 
borrowed  from  the  earlier  one.  The  only  alter- 
native is  the  irrational  hypothesis  that  both  bor- 
rowed from  the  same  source  and  one  generally 
recognized  in  the  primitive  Church  ;  in  other 
Avords,  that  there  was  a  Gospel  containing  the 
same  matter  that  is  now  found  in  the  Fourth 
Gospel,  but  that  it  has  so  entirely  disappeared 


that  no  tradition  even  of  its  existence  has  sur- 
vived, and  that  in  its  place  a  forgery  has  been 
palmed  off  upon  the  Church  so  successfully,  that 
in  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  it  was  uni- 
versally accepted  as  the  original  work  of  the 
Apostle  whose  name  it  has  ever  since  borne. 

Space  does  not  allow  me  to  give  in  detail  these 
quotations,  which  are  numerous ;  it  would  be 
still  moi-e  out  of  the  province  of  this  introduction 
to  enter  into  the  arguments  by  which  the  ration- 
alistic writers  endeavor  to  reconcile  these  quota- 
tions with  their  hypotheses.  I  can  but  briefly 
indicate  a  few  of  them,  referring  the  student  to 
the  larger  works  for  the  examination  in  detail  of 
the  parallelism  between  these  early  ecclesiastical 
writers  and  the  Fourth  Gospel.  Justin  Martyr 
thus  refers  to  the  testimony  of  John  the  Baptist : 
"I  am  not  the  Christ  ....  for  he  cometh  who  is 
stronger  than  I,  whose  shoes  I  am  not  meet  to 
bear  ''  (comp.  John  1 :  19-27).  He  citcs  Christ  as  say- 
ing, "Unless  ye  be  born  again,  ye  shall  not 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven, ' '  and  adds  the 
comment,  "Now  that  it  is  impossible  for  those 
who  have  been  born  to  go  into  the  matrices  of 
the  mother  is  evident  to  all "  (comp.  John  3 : 3-5), 
Tatian  refers  to  the  sayings,  "The  darkness 
comprehends  not  the  light "  (comp.  John  i :  s),  and 
"All  things  were  by  him,  and  without  him  was 
not  anything  made  "  (comp.  John  1 : 5, 3).  Heges- 
sippus  (A.  D.  12.5)  refers  to  "  that  which  is 
spoken  m  the  Gospels,  '  That  was  the  true  light 
which  lighteth  every  man  who  cometh  into  the 
world  '  "  (comp.  John  1 : 9).  In  the  writings  of  the 
Naaseni  and  Peratae,  Gnostic  sects  of  the  be- 
ginning of  the  second  century,  we  have  several 
unmistakable  references  to  sayings  that  are  pecu- 
liar to  the  Fourth  Gospel.  "I  am  the  door," 
(comp.  John  10 :  ?) ;  "  As  Moscs  lifted  up  the  serpent 
in  the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son  be 
lifted  up,"  (comp.  John  3:14);  "If  tliou  hadst 
known  who  it  is  that  asketh  thee,  thou  wouldest 
have  asked  of  him,  and  he  would  have  given 
thee  living  water,  springing  up,"  (comp.  John  4  :  ;o) ; 
"The  Saviour  hath  said,  'That  which  is  bom 
of  flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born  of  the 
Spirit  is  spirit,"  (comp.  John  3:6);  "Except  ye 
eat  my  flesh  and  drink  my  blood,  ye  shall  not 
enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  (comp.  John  6:53). 
These  are  by  no  means  all  the  citations  from 
the  writers  of  the  first  two  centuries  which 
appear  to  have  been  taken  from  the  Fourth  Gos- 
pel, but  they  will  suffice  to  give  the  reader  an 
idea  of  the  nature  of  the  evidence  which  is  re- 
garded by  most  Christian  writers,  and  by  some 
rationalistic  critics — ]\Iatthew  Arnold,  for  exam- 
ple— as  establishing  the  fact  that  the  Fourth 
Gospel  was  in  existence  and  recognized  as  an 
authority  in  the  Church  in  the  beginning  of  the 
second  century.  If  this  is  the  fact,  it  is  reason- 
ably certain  that  it  was  the  work  of  the  Apostle 


INTRODUCTION. 


John,  since  if  it  had  been  written  by  any  one  else 
as  early  as  that  date,  that  is,  during  the  lifetime 
of  some  of  the  contemporaries  of  John,  the  for- 
gery would  certainly  have  been  detected. 

The  internal  evidence.  The  facts  indicated 
above  are  not  questioned  by  any  critic.  But 
though  from  the  beginning  of  the  third  century 
to  the  close  of  the  eighteenth,  the  Fourth  Gospel 
was  unanimously  attributed  to  the  Apostle  John, 
it  is  maintained  by  those  critics  who  deny  the 
Johannine  authorship  that  a  fair  consideration  of 
the  external  evidence  now  extant,  leaves  it  uncer- 
tain whether  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the 
Church  in  the  first  century  was  correct,  and  that 
the  internal  evidence,  i.  e.,  the  character  of  the 
Gospel  itself,  when  contrasted  (1)  with  the  other 
Gospels,  (3)  with  the  known  character  of  John, 
(3)  with  the  other  writings  attributed  to  him, 
makes  it  certain  that  he  was  not  the  author. 

Unquestionably  the  Fourth  Gospel  presents 
verj-  different  matter  and  a  very  different  aspect 
of  Christ's  life  and  character  from  that  presented 
by  the  other  three  Gospels.  The  three  Gospels 
give  an  impression  almost  exclusively  Galilean  ; 
the  Fourth  Gospel  narrates  almost  exclusively  a 
ministry  in  Judea;  the  three  Gosiiels  indicate 
one  which  might  have  been  completed  in  a  single 
year ;  the  fourth  indicates  three  years  as  the 
duration  of  Christ's  ministry  ;  the  three  Gospels 
report  chiefly  Christ's  ethical  discourses  ;  the 
fourth  reports  chiefly  his  doctrinal  discourses  ; 
love  to  men's  neighbor  is  the  predominate  theme 
in  the  three  Gospels  ;  faith  in  a  divine  Saviour  is 
the  predominate  theme  in  the  fourth  ;  the  three 
Gospels  portray  the  work  of  Jesus  Christ ;  the 
fourth  portrays  his  person  and  character;  the 
three  Gospels  repeat  the  same  incidents  and 
instructions  in  slightly  different  language  ;  the 
fourth  repeats  scarcely  anything  found  in  the 
other  three ;  and  when,  as  in  its  account  of  the 
feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  it  does  repeat,  the 
manifest  object  of  the  repetition  is  to  introduce 
a  report  of  a  discourse  of  Jesus  omitted  in  the 
other  narratives. 

It  is  also  true  that  there  is  a  marked  ditf  erence 
between  the  style  of  John's  Gospel  and  the  Book 
of  Revelations.  This  difference  is  so  consider- 
able that  it  is  vigorously  maintained  that  the 
same  author  could  not  have  written  both  books. 
"The  difference,"  says  Liicke,  "between  the 
language,  way  of  expression  and  mode  of 
thought  and  doctrine  of  the  Apocalypse  and 
the  rest  of  the  Johannine  writings  is  so  compre- 
hensive and  intense,  so  individual  and  even  so 
radical ;  the  affinity  and  agreement  on  the  con- 
trary either  so  general,  or  in  detail  so  fragmentary 
and  uncertain,  that  the  Apostle  John,  if  he  really 
is  the  author  of  the  Gospel  and  of  the  Epistles — 
which  we  here  advance — cannot  have  composed 
the  Apocalypse  either  before  or  after  the  Gospel 


and  the  Epistles."  This  difference  is  of  two 
kinds,  a  dillercnce  both  of  style  and  of  spirit. 
The  language  of  the  Apocalypse  is  comparatively 
harsh  and  Hebraic,  that  of  the  Gospel  a  compar- 
atively fine  and  flowing  Greek.  The  author  of 
the  Apocalypse,  it  is  claimed,  is  an  intense  Jew, 
whose  imagery  is  borrowed  from  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures,  and  whose  object  is  the  exaltation 
of  the  Jewish  people ;  who  narrates  the  out- 
poured punishment  of  God  on  the  enemies  of 
God's  chosen  people,  and  whose  celestial  capital 
of  the  kingdom  without  end  is  the  new  Jerusa- 
lem. The  author  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  it  is 
claimed,  could  not  have  been  a  Jew  or  of  Jewish 
extraction ;  he  makes  no  attempt  to  conceal  his 
enmity  of  the  Jews ;  he  stigmatizes  them  as  the 
enemies  of  Christ,  and  as  the  children  of  the 
devil  ;*  and  he  writes  of  them  and  of  their 
customs  as  no  Jew  would  or  could  have  written 
of  the  customs  of  his  own  people.t 

It  is  not  my  purpose  here  to  enter  upon  a 
discussion  of  these  objections.  It  must  suffice 
to  say  that  they  are  founded  on  a  false  concep- 
tion of  the  character  of  John  and  a  false  assump- 
tion that  what  John  was  when  he  fii'st  met  Jesus 
by  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  that  he  was  after  a 
life-time  spent  as  a  disciple,  learning  of  him  and 
undergoing  that  transformation  of  character 
which  has  been  the  peculiar  and  glorious  fruit- 
age of  Christ's  husbandry.  Instead  of  entering 
into  such  a  discussion,  I  shall  ask  the  reader  to 
consider  briefly  what  are  some  of  the  more  nota- 
ble characteristics  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  and  what 
would  be  the  conclusion  as  to  its  authorship 
from  an  independent  and  original  examination 
of  its  pages. 

Imagine  then  that  we  have  just  discovered  this 
ancient  manuscript,  a  manuscript  which  unques- 
tionably dates  from  the  beginning  of  the  third 
century,  probably  from  a  still  earlier  period,  and 
which  we  have  abundant  evidence  was  then 
unanimously  attributed  to  the  Apostle  John. 
We  enter  upon  its  examination  that  we  may 
form  for  ourselves  a  judgment  who  its  real 
author  probably  was.  In  this  examination  there 
are  three  characteristics  which  force  themselves 
upon  our  attention  as  predominant :  (1)  the 
claims  which  it  presents ;  (2)  its  literary  char- 
acter ;  (3)  the  indications  which  it  affords  as  to 
the  personality  of  its  author. 

1.  Its  claims.  It  assumes  to  be  written  by  an 
eye-witness.  In  his  introduction  the  writer  says 
distinctly  of  the  subject  of  his  biography  :  "  We 
beheld  his  glory,  the  gloiy  as  of  the  only-begotten 
of  the  Father."    In  the  Epistle  attributed  to  him, 

*  John  5 :  16,  18 ;  7:13,19;  8  :  40,  44,  59 ;  9  :  22,  28 ; 
18  :  31,  etc. 

t  See  John  2  :  6, 13 ;  5:1;  0:4;  7:2;  8:  17;  10:34; 
15  :  25  ;  19  :  40,  42. 


INTRODUCTIOK 


he  reiterates  this  statement  even  more  explicitly. 
"  Tliat  which  was  from  the  beginning,  which  we 
have  heard,  which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes, 
which  we  have  looked  upon  and  our  hands  have 
handled  of  the  word  of  life  ....  that  which  we 
have  seen  and  heard  declare  we  unto  you."  In 
his  account  of  the  crucifixion  he  emphasizes  the 
fact  that  he  is  an  eye-witness  of  the  events  de- 
scribed. "  He  that  saw  it  bare  record  and  the 
record  is  true ;  and  he  knoweth  that  he  saith 
true  that  ye  might  believe."  And  yet  again  in 
the  closing  chapter,  generally  regarded  as  writ- 
ten subsequent  to  the  rest  of  the  volume,  and  as 
supplementary  to  it,  the  writer  is  identified  with 
the  unnamed  beloved  disciple.  "  This  is  the 
disciple  who  testified  of  these  things  and  wrote 
these  things,  and  we  know  that  his  testimony  is 
true."* 

In  reading  the  book  we  constantly  come  upon 
indications  that  the  work  is  by  an  eye-witness  or 
by  one  who  writes  in  order  to  give  that  impres- 
eion.  No  one  of  the  Evangelist' s  narratives  more 
abounds  with  graphic  touches,  sUglit  but  signifi- 
cant, such  as  indicate  the  vivid  remembrance  of 
one  who  was  not  only  an  eye  and  ear  witness, 
but  also  one  who  treasures  up  in  a  remarkably 
retentive  memory  incidents  which  mere  tradition 
would  not  have  preserved.  John  the  Bap- 
tist "looks  upon  Jesus,"  and  points  him  out 
to  his  disciples,  by  his  peculiar  gaze ;  Jesus 
"turns"  and  sees  them  follow;  wearied  with 
the  journey  he  sits  "thus  on  the  well ;"  there 
is  "  much  grass  "  where  he  feeds  the  five  thou- 
sand ;  when  Mary  anointed  Jesus  the  "house 
was  filled  with  the  odor  of  the  ointment ;"  when 
Judas  went  out  to  complete  the  betrayal  "it  was 
night ;"  the  night  "was  cold,"  and  Peter  stands 
with  the  servant  of  the  high-priest  warming 
himself  at  a  fire  of  coals  in  the  court-yard. t 
These  may  serve  as  illustrations.  Examples  the 
reader  will  find  in  great  abundance,  and  refer- 
ences to  them  in  the  notes.  Of  all  the  Gospels, 
the  Fourth  Gospel  is  the  one  which  reports  most 
fully  the  private  conferences  between  Jesus  and 
the  Twelve,  and  the  only  one  which  reports  his 
"  asides  "  and  his  personal  feelings  in  explanation 
of  his  public  acts.|  These  features  in  the  narra- 
tive do  not  prove  that  it  was  written  by  an 
eye-witness,  but  they  indicate  that  it  was  written 
either  by  an  eye-witness,  or  by  one  who  desired 
to  produce  that  impression ;  either  by  one  of 
the  Twelve  or  by  a  dehberate  and  skilful  forger. 

2.  Its  literary  character.  The  difierences 
between  this  Gospel  and  the  other  three  which  I 
have  already  very  briefly  described,  are  very  con- 
siderable.   They  have  led  different  minds  to  very 

*  John  1 :  14 ;  19  :  35  ;  21 :  a4  ;  1  John  1 : 1-3. 

+  John  1 :  .36,  .38  ;  4:6;  6  :  10 ;  12  :  3  ;  13  :  -30  ;  18  :  18. 

t  John  12  :  27,  38  ;  13  :  3 ;  chaps.  14-16. 


j  different  conclusions  respecting  the  authorship  of 
the  Fourth  Gospel.  It  is,  however,  safe  to  say 
that  they  are  just  such  as  might  be  expected  if 
the  Fourth  Gospel  was  written  after  the  other 
three,  and  by  some  one  familiar  with  them,  or  at 
least  with  the  traditions  embodied  in  them.  This 
Gospel  presents  precisely  the  aspect  which  would 
be  presented  by  a  book  written  for  the  purpose  of 
supplementing  the  accounts  already  jjossessed 
by  the  primitive  churches,  and  of  i)ortraying  an 
aspect  of  character  not  adequately  portrayed  by 
the  earUer  writers.  It  presents,  too,  exactly 
that  aspect  which  would  be  presented  by  a 
narrative  written  after  the  rapid  growth  of  the 
Church,  and  its  prophetic  incursions  into  heath- 
enism had  given  the  writer  a  better  conception 
than  his  co-disciples  possessed  of  the  spiritual 
character  of  the  new  religion.  Matthew,  Mark, 
and  Luke  might  perhaps  have  believed  that  the 
privileges  of  Christianity  were  to  be  confined  to 
Jews  and  Jewish  proselytes.  Though  many  of 
Christ's  words  which  they  report  indicate  a 
broader  scope,  it  is  by  no  means  clear  that  they 
comprehended  them.  But  no  one  can  doubt 
that  the  author  of  John's  Gospel,  when  he 
wrote,  believed  that  the  atonement  of  Jesus 
Christ  was  for  all  humanity,  his  religion  for  all 
classes,  races,  and  conditions  of  mankind.  It  is 
the  Fourth  Gospel  which  teUs  us  that  He  was 
the  true  Light  which  lighteth  evei-y  man  which 
cometh  into  the  world,  that  God  so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  his  only  beloved  Son  that 
whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  have  ever- 
lasting life,  and  that  whosoever  comes  to  him  he 
will  in  no  wise  cast  out ;  it  is  the  Fourth  Gospel 
which  reports  Christ's  interview  with  the  woman 
of  Samaria  and  his  subsequent  preaching  to  the 
Samaritans,  which  brings  out  more  clearly  than 
either  of  the  others  the  grounds  of  Christ's 
practical  abrogation  of  the  Pharisaic  law  of  the 
Sabbath,  w'hich  dwells  more  than  any  other 
Gospel  on  the  spiritual  aspects  of  his  kingdom 
and  the  divine  nature  of  the  king.*  All  this 
we  might  expect  from  one  writing  after  more 
than  half  a  century  of  Catholic  Christianity  had 
interpreted  the  nature,  mission,  and  words  of 
Christ  to  his  church. 

Let  us  add  that  a  forger  would  not  have  suf- 
fered his  narrative  to  stand  in  such  a  marked 
contrast  with  the  previous  and  recognized  narra- 
tives already  in  the  possession  of  the  churches. 
He  would  have  commingled  the  ethical  with  the 
doctrinal,  the  human  with  the  divine.  He  would 
have  repeated  in  a  modified  form  some  of  the 
incidents  and  teachings  already  reported  by  the 
other  Evangelists,  that  he  might  thus  give  a 
color  of  authenticity  to  his  narrative.  The  veiy 
contrast  between  the  Fourth  Gospel   and   the 


■■  John  1 :  19 ;  3  :  16 ;  6 :  37 ;  chaps.  4,  5, 10,  14,  15. 


INTRODUCTION. 


other  three,  ou  which  skeptic  writers  rely  to 
prove  its  untnistworthiness,  is  an  iudication 
that  it  cannot  be  the  work  of  fraud.  If  that 
aspect  of  Christ's  character  and  teachings  re- 
ported by  John's  Gospel  was  not  recognized  by 
the  primitive  church  as  true,  or  if  the  author 
was  not  himself  known  in  the  age  in  which  the 
narrative  was  produced,  and  so  known  that  his 
simple  name  was  a  sufficient  guarantee  of  the 
accuracy  of  his  narrative,  au  account  so  dissimi- 
lar from  those  already  in  the  possession  of  the 
churches  would  have  received  little  credit  and 
no  general,  certainly  no  universal,  acceptance. 

3.  Indications  of  authorship.  A  further 
examination  of  this  Gospel  gives  a  deliuite  im- 
pression respecting  the  character  of  the  author. 
He  is  evidently  thoroughly  familiar  with  Jewish 
manners  and  customs.  Ue  knows  whereof  he 
writes.  He  has  lived  in  the  country  and  mingled 
with  the  people.  His  knowledge  is  not  that  of 
a  student  of  books,  nor  that  of  a  mere  casual 
traveler.  But  he  writes  for  those  who  are  not 
familiar  with  Palestine  or  its  social  life.  He 
inserts  parenthetical  expUcations  of  Jewish  cus- 
toms. He  explains  to  his  Gentile  readers  the 
use  of  the  firkins  of  water  at  the  wedding- feast 
"for  purifying  after  the  manner  of  the  Jews  ;" 
the  wrapping  of  the  body  of  Jesus,  as  the  man- 
ner of  the  "Jews  is  to  bury;"  the  refusal  of 
the  Pharisees  to  enter  Pilate's  hall  "lest  they 
should  be  defiled."  The  feast  of  Tabernacles  is 
the  Jews'  feast  of  Tabernacles,  the  Passover  is 
the  Jews'  Passover,  and  the  Preparation  for  it 
is  the  Preparation  of  the  Jews.*  These  refer- 
ences are  so  incidental  as  to  indicate  a  writer 
thoroughly  familiar  with  Jewish  life  ;  yet  they 
are  so  marked  as  to  indicate  equally  clearly  a 
writer  whose  readers  were  not  Jews  but  Gen- 
tiles. 

The  indications  are  not  less  clear  that  the 
writer,  whoever  he  may  have  been,  was  not 
himself  a  sharer  in  Jewish  prejudices.  Jew  he 
may  have  been ;  an  intolerant  Jew  he  certainly 
was  not.  He  is  familiar  with  the  Pharisees  and 
with  the  Pharisaic  law,  but  he  has  no  sympathy 
with  the  one  and  no  admiration  for  the  other. 
We  can  hardly  be  mistaken  in  thinking  that  his 
native  prejudices  are  adverse  rather  than  favor- 
able to  the  inhabitants  of  Judea.  More  than  any 
of  the  other  Evangelists  his  language  respecting 
them  indicates  his  aversion  to  them.  He  is  the 
Evangelist  who  reports  the  mobs  in  Jerusalem 
against  Jesus,  and  the  secret  counsels  for  his 
assassination,  and  the  deliberate  judgment  of 
Caiaphas  that  it  is  better  for  the  rulers  to  kill 
the  Galilean  Rabbi  than  to  hazard  their  own 
oflBlces,  and  the  persistent  persecution  of  Jesus  ; 
he  it  is  who  with  delicate  sarcasm  stigmatizes 

*  John2:6;  5:1;  6:4;  7:3;  18:28;  19:40. 


Caiaphas  as  high-priest  for  "that  same  year ;" 
the  very  language  which  he  employs  in  describ- 
ing the  religious  festivals  of  Judea  as  "  feasts  of 
the  Jews,"  indicates  an  author  not  in  sympathy 
with  the  religious  formalism  of  Judea  ;  the  very 
phraseology  with  which  he  characterizes  the 
reluctance  of  the  Jews  to  enter  into  Pilate's 
judgment-hall,  indicates  a  writer  having  little 
sympathy  for  the  formalism  which  was  never  a 
characteristic  of  the  Galilean  Jews,  and  always 
was  a  characteristic  of  the  more  intense  and 
bigoted  Jews  of  the  Syrian  province  of  Judea.* 

Nor  can  we  be  mistaken  in  surmising  that  the 
author  was,  by  nature  and  temperament,  ardent, 
impulsive,  vehement.  The  intensity  of  his  nature 
has  been  tamed  by  age,  experience  or  grace,  or 
the  three  combined ;  but  the  indications  of  his 
native  character  crop  out  in  occasional  utter- 
ances. The  records  of  Matthew,  Mark,  and 
Luke  are  absolutely  colorless.  They  are  with- 
out epithets.  Their  simple  and  artless  narra- 
tive is  left  to  produce  its  o\vn  impression.  This 
is  less  true  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  than  of  the 
other  three.  The  intense  indignation  which  the 
writer  feels  against  Judas  Iscariot,  he  is  at  no 
pains  to  conceal.  He  it  is  who  reports  Jesus  as 
declaring  early  in  his  ministry.  One  of  you  is  a 
devil ;  he  it  is  who  characterizes  Judas  Iscariot 
as  a  thief ;  he  who  twice  declares  that  Satan 
entered  into  Judas  Iscariot. +  These  are  the 
most  notable  exhibitions  of  his  feelings ;  but  one 
can  hardly  read  through  the  entire  narrative 
without  realizing  in  its  tone  and  spirit  the  evi- 
dence that  the  author  was  a  man  of  intense  and 
passionate  earnestness,  kept  under  marvelous 
self-restraint. 

Finally,  it  is  clear  that  the  author  is  a  man  of 
some  native  capacity  for  culture  and  of  large 
education.  He  is  familiar  with  the  Greek  lan- 
guage and  with  the  Greco-Oriental  philosojDhy. 
He  writes  with  a  pure  and  flowing  style.  His 
introduction  could  have  been  penned  only  by 
one  who  had  become  habituated  to  those  forms 
of  philosophic  thought  which  some  cities  of 
Greece,  and  notably  Ephesus,  had  imported 
from  Alexandria  and  the  further  East.  It  could 
only  have  been  written  for  readers  who  were 
familiar  with  that  philosophy  and  could  best  be 
approached  by  employing  its  phraseology. 

We  find  then  in  the  direct  claims  and  the  inci- 
dental allusions  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  indications 
that  it  was  written  by  an  eye  and  ear  witness, 
who  was  with  Jesus  from  the  commencement  to 
the  close  of  his  ministry  ;  in  the  broad  differences 
between  the  Fourth  Gospel  and  the  other  three 
gospels,  indications  that  it  was  written  after  the 


*  See  John  7 : 1, 19,  25,  32 ;    8:6,59;    9:22;    10:31; 
11  :  49. 
t  John  6 :  70,  71 ;  11 : 6 ;  13 :  2,  27. 


10 


INTRODUCTION 


others  and  hy  one  who  was  familiar  with  them  or 
with  the  traditions  embodied  in  them,  and  who 
wrote  to  supplement  their  accounts  ;  in  the  gen- 
eral catholic  and  spiritual  atmosphere  of  the 
book,  indications  that  it  was  written  after  history 
had  begun  to  interpret  the  words  and  work  of 
Christ,  and  to  make  clearer  his  transcendent  and 
incomparable  character;  and  in  the  style  and 
phraseology  of  the  book,  indications  that  it  was 
written  by  one  who  was  familiar  with  Jewish  cus- 
toms but  not  sharing  Jewish  prejudices,  who 
possessed  an  ardent  nature  which  had  been 
brought  under  the  power  of  a  strong  self-control, 
and  who  to  a  native  capacity  for  culture  added 
that  familiarity  with  Greek  literature  and  philos- 
ophy which  only  long  residence  in  a  thoroughly 
Greek  society  could  impart. 

Now,  so  far  as  our  limited  knowledge  enables 
us  to  judge,  John's  life  and  character  remarkably 
correspond  with  these  indications  of  the  Gospel 
which  was  so  long  unanimously  attributed  to  his 
pen.  His  parents  were  well-to-do  Galileans,  and 
he  probably  received  a  fair  education  in  his  child- 
hood ;  his  early  education  as  a  Galilean  would 
have  given  him  familiarity  with  Jewish  customs, 
and  yet  would  prejudice  him  against  rather  than 
in  favor  of  the  inhabitants  of  Judea ;  his  later 
and  prolonged  residence  in  Ephesus,  of  all  Greek 
cities  the  most  Oriental,  would  have  made  him 
familiar  with  the  best  Greek  culture,  and  with 
the  mystic  philosophy  of  the  Greco-Oriental 
school ;  that  he  possessed  a  vehement  nature  is 
evident  from  his  original  title  of  Son  of  Thunder ; 
his  receptive  disposition  and  his  intense  love  for 
Jesus  might  have  been  expected  to  tame  that 
nature,  without  eradicating  from  his  writings  all 
indications  of  its  existence  ;  of  aU  the  disciples  the 
most  courageous  and  the  most  sympathetically 
intimate  A\ith  the  subject  of  his  biography,  he 
was  of  them  all  the  one  to  adhere  to  Jesus  in  his 
dangerous  ministry  in  Jerusalem,  and  the  one 
therefore  to  record  what  all  the  others  have 
omitted ;  he  was  also  the  one  to  interpret  Christ's 
actions  by  his  own  suggestion  of  Christ's  iinut- 
tered  thoughts ;  writing  after  the  other  Gospels 
had  been  written  and  were  already  being  widely 
circulated,  his  omission  of  events  and  teachings 
which  they  had  recorded  is  not  only  explicable, 
but  natural  and  to  be  anticipated ;  finally,  writing 
after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  after  the  dis- 
persion of  the  Jews  had  begun,  after  the  descent 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  had  interpreted  the  mystical 
promises  of  another  Comforter,  after  churches 
had  been  organized  as  far  west  as  Rome  in  which 
Gentile  and  Jew  met  on  equal  terms,  after,  in  a 
word,  the  history  of  the  church  had  interpreted 
the  prophecies  and  instructions  of  its  Lord,  it 
would  have  been  strange  indeed  if  he  had  not 
given  a  deeper,  truer,  and  more  catholic  exposi- 
tion of  Christ's  Gospel  than  could  have  been 


written  during  the  first  half-century  in  Pales- 
tine, by  those  whose  comprehension  of  Christ's, 
teaching  had  not  been  broadened  by  residence 
in  a  foreign  land  and  an  observation  of  Christ's 
redeeming  work  in  a  pagan  community. 

Other  hypotheses.  The  conclusion  to  which. 
a  consideration  of  the  external  and  internal  evi- 
dence brings  the  candid  student  is  confirmed  by 
a  consideration  of  the  alternative  hypotheses 
presented  to  him.  These  are  many  in  form ;  for 
it  is  a  significant  fact  that  while  those  who  be- 
lieve in  the  authenticity  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  are 
entirely  agreed  in  respect  to  its  authorship,  and 
the  time  and  place  of  its  composition,  those  who 
disbelieve  in  its  authenticity  are  not  agreed 
i^mong  themselves  respecting  either.  But  in  gen- 
eral their  various  opinions  may  be  reduced  to  two 
classes. 

The  first  is  that  the  Fourth  Gospel  is  the  work 
of  a  GentUe  Christian  writing  in  the  third  cen- 
tury. Confessedly  this  Gospel  purports  to  be 
written  by  an  eye  and  ear  witness.  Confessedly 
it  was  unanimously  attributed  to  the  Apostle 
John  in  the  third  century.  Confessedly  it  is- 
without  a  peer  in  literature,  ancient  or  modern, 
sacred  or  secular.  Christian  or  pagan,  in  the 
purity  of  its  doctrine,  the  moral  elevation  of  its- 
style,  and  the  spirituality  of  its  atmosphere. 
This  hypothesis  asks  us  to  believe  that  it  is  the 
work  of  a  deliberate  ecclesiastical  forger,  with 
so  little  conscience  that  he  neither  hesitated  to 
assume  the  pen  of  an  Apostle  nor  to  attribute  to 
Jesus  fictitious  discourses  and  imaginary  mira- 
cles, yet  with  so  much  conscience  that  he  would 
not  put  an  Apostle's  name  to  his  composition, 
but  left  its  authorship  to  be  inferred  by  a  self- 
deluded  public  ;  written  too  by  a  forger  who  was 
so  skillful  that  he  deceived  the  whole  contempo- 
raneous church,  all  sects  and  sections,  Jew-ish 
and  Gentile,  Greek,  Roman,  and  African,  ortho- 
dox and  heretic,  and  yet  who  was  such  a  bungler 
that  the  gross  discrepancies  of  his  account,  con- 
trasted with  that  of  the  other  three  evangelists, 
make  his  fraud  palpable  to  the  ecclesiastical  and 
literary  critics  of  the  nineteenth  century.  This 
hypothesis  demands  so  great  an  exercise  of  cre- 
dulity that  sober  critics  of  even  the  rationalistic 
school  are  generally  abandoning  it,  or  have  al- 
ready done  so.  This  opinion  may  be  already 
characterized  as  a  thing  of  the  past. 

The  other  hypothesis  is  more  plausible  and 
captivating.  This  is  that  the  Fourth  Gospel  was 
written  by  an  amanuensis  or  a  disciple  of  the 
Apostle  John,  that  its  essential  facts  were  derived 
from  him,  that  it  was  written  in  his  old  age,  that 
his  recollection  was  already  growing  dim  and  his 
reports  of  the  words  of  Jesus  are  unconsciously 
modified  by  his  philosophy  and  experience,  and 
that  these  reports  are  stUl  further  modified  by 
the  free  pen  of  the  amanuensis  or  the  disciple 


INTRODUCTION. 


11 


who  perfected  the  written  record ;  and  it  is 
urged  that  this  hypothesis  explains  both  verbal 
peculiarities  and  the  title  given  to  it  from  early 
ages,  viz.,  not  the  Gospel  of  John,  but  the  Gos- 
pel according  to  John.* 

In  support  of  this  opinion  there  is  quoted  an 
ancient  legend  found  in  the  canon  of  Muratori 
(A.  D.  175),  which  runs  as  follows  :  "The  fourth 
of  the  Gospels  is  by  the  disciple  John.  He  was 
being  pressed  by  his  disciples  and  (fellow)  bishops, 
and  he  said,  'Fast  with  me  this  day,  and  for 
three  days ;  and  whatsoever  shall  have  been  re- 
vealed to  each  one  of  us,  let  us  relate  it  to  the 
rest.'  In  the  same  night  it  was  revealed  to  the 
Apostle  Andrew  that  John  should  write  the 
whole  In  his  name,  and  that  all  the  rest  should 
revise  it."  It  must  suffice  to  say  of  this  opinion 
that  in  its  most  pronounced  form  it  is  wholly  un- 
sustained  by  evidence.  It  is  ingenious,  but  not 
substantial.  Doubtless  the  reports  of  Christ's 
disciples  are  not  verbatim.  Doubtless  we  have 
in  many  instances  the  sentiments  of  Christ  em- 
bodied in  the  words  of  John.  Possibly  some 
glosses  and  explanations  added  originally  by  an 
amanuensis  or  scribe  may  have  become  incorpo- 
rated in  the  narrative. t  But  that  the  book  is  in  no 
sense  a  composite  production,  that  it  is  the  work 
of  one  not  of  many  minds,  that  we  have  essen- 
tially the  portrayal  of  the  life  and  character  of 
Jesus  by  a  single  author.  Is  evident  on  even  a 
casual  perusal,  and  still  more  on  a  careful  analy- 
sis of  the  work. 

Discourses  of  Jesus.  The  Gospel  of  John 
abounds  with  reports  of  the  discourses  of  Jesus  ; 
it  is  more  a  report  of  his  discourses  (Ao'yia)  than 
of  his  works  (tQ-ya) ;  the  miracles  reported  are  gen- 
erally only  a  text  for  a  discourse  which  follows. 
The  student,  passing  from  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  in  Matthew,  or  the  parables  in  Perea,  in 
Luke,  to  the  sermon  on  the  Bread  of  life  at  Ca- 
pernaum (john.ch.  6),  or  ou  the  Good  Shepherd,  at 
Jerusalem  (john,  ch.  lo),  feels  the  difference  between 
them,  a  difference  chiefly  in  the  phraseology  em- 
ployed, sometimes  in  the  phases  of  truth  taught, 
but  never  amounting  to  a  contradiction  in  the  es- 
sential teaching.  The  same  doctrine  respecting 
the  authority  of  Christ  is  conveyed  by  Matt.  11  : 
27,  and  John  5  :  19-30  ;  the  same  truth  as  to  the 
nature  and  necessity  of  a  new  and  divine  life  in  the 
soul  is  expressed  in  Mark  4  :  26-39,  and  in  John 
6  :  50-.58 ;  similar  parallels  in  essential  tnith  may 
be  found  in  the  synoptics  to  all  that  is  taught  in 
the  Fourth  Gospel ;  but  the  form  of  expression  is 
strikingly  dtfiEereut.  Thus,  in  the  study  of  the 
Fourth  Gospel,  the  question  is  constantly  pressed 
upon  the  student,  how  far  the  reports  of  Christ's 


*  The  student  will  find  this  hypothesis  urged  with 
great  literary  ingenuity  by  Matthew  Arnold,  in  "  God 
and  the  Bible." 

t  See  John  5  :  4,  and  note  there. 


addresses  by  John  are  to  be  regarded  as  reported 
in  the  words  of  Christ. 

In  answer  to  this  we  have,  on  the  one  hand, 
Christ's  promise  reported  by  John  :  "The  Com- 
forter .  .  .  shall  bring  all  things  to  your  remem- 
brance whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you"  (ih. 
u  :  26) ;  on  the  other,  we  have  reason  to  believe 
that  the  reports  are  not  verbatim,  (a)  This 
would  require  a  supernatural  exercise  of  mem- 
ory nowhere  claimed  by  the  Evangelists,  and 
therefore  not  to  be  claimed  by  the  church  for 
them.  (&)  In  some  instances,  e.  g.,  the  case  of 
the  conversation  with  Nicodemus  and  the  woman 
at  the  well,  it  is  certain  that  John  could  not  have 
been  present,  and  must  have  derived  his  infor- 
mation either  from  Jesus  or  from  the  other 
party  to  the  conference,  (c)  The  language  in 
which  the  discourse  is  reported  is  analogous 
not  only  in  words,  but  also  in  the  forms  of  ex- 
pression to  that  of  the  narrator  ;  the  likeness  is 
so  marked  that  in  several  instances  the  critics  are 
not  fully  agreed  how  much  is  to  be  regarded  as 
the  discourse  of  Jesus,  and  how  much  as  the  ac- 
companying comment  of  John,  {d )  The  thought 
is  sometimes,  and  the  language  is  often,  obscure. 
And  though  this  obscurity  is  increased  by  mis- 
translations, and  by  the  division  into  verses,  which 
hides  from  the  reader  the  true  unity  of  the  dis- 
course, nevertheless  it  exists  in  the  Greekoriginal. 
Such  obscurity  does  not  exist  in  the  reports  of 
Christ's  discourses  in  the  other  Gospels,  (e)  The 
largest  public  discourse  as  reported  would  not 
have  required  over  eight  minutes  in  deliver}-.  I 
believe  then  that  in  the  Fourth  Gospel  we  have 
the  substantial  thoughts  of  Christ,  reproduced 
generally  in  the  words  and  with  the  phraseology 
of  John,  whose  mind,  under  the  divine  inspiration, 
preserves  the  essential  truth  unimpaired,  but  rep- 
resents it,  not  as  a  mechanical  repeater  of  words, 
but  as  a  disciple  who  freely  reproduces  the  ideas 
of  his  Master,  but  largely  in  language  of  his  own. 

Object  and  character.  We  are  not  left  to 
surmise  the  object  of  the  author  of  the  Fourth 
Gospel.  He  himself  tells  us  what  it  was:  "These 
are  written  that  ye  might  believe  that  Jesus  is 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  that,  believing, 
ye  might  have  life  through  his  name."  * 

According  to  John's  Gospel,  true  religion  con- 
sists not  in  obedience  to  an  external  law,  but  in  a 
new  life  in  the  soul,  by  which  it  is  transformed, 

*  John  20  :  31.  This  declaration  makes  it  nnneces- 
sai-y  to  discuss  the  various  theories  which  have  been 
proposed,  such  as  that  it  was  written  to  supplement  the 
other  Gospels  and  supply  their  defects,  or  to  refute  cer- 
tain Gnostic  heresies,  or  to  commend  Christianity  to 
the  disciples  of  Oriental  philosophy  and  the  like.  These 
may,  or  may  not,  have  been  subordinate  aims  of  the 
writer :  the  main  design  he  clearly  indicates,  and  it  is 
the  design  here  indicated  which  afi'ords  the  key  to  the 
true  interpretation  of  the  Gospel  as  a  whole. 


12 


INTKODUCTION. 


aod  the  soul,  its  habits  and  character,  are  brought 
into  conformity  with  tlie  law  of  God,  that  is,  the 
law  of  love.  This  new  and  divine  life  is  implant- 
ed supernaturally  from  above ;  it  is  fed  perpet- 
ually by  the  influence  of  the  divine  Spirit ;  it 
emancijjates  the  soul  from  aU  bondage  to  sin  and 
the  law ;  for  it  preparation  is  made  by  the  life 
and  death  of  the  Lord ;  in  it  God  is  manifested 
in  a  peculiar  manner  to  the  soul  and  abides  with 
it,  an  indwelling  Comforter.  This  life  comes 
through  a  vital  faith  in  Jesus  as  in  a  peculiar 
sense  the  Son  of  God,  in  whose  life  the  believer 
finds  his  ideal  of  true  life,  by  whose  death  he  is 
redeemed  from  death,  by  whose  siDiritual  power 
he  is  raised  a  new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus,  by 
whose  abiding  presence  he  is  guided,  guarded, 
strengthened,  fed.  Those  incidents  and  dis- 
courses in  the  life  of  Christ  which  illustrate  and 
enforce  this  aspect  of  Christian  truth  and  expe- 
rience are  those  which  John  gives  us  in  his  Gos- 
pel. The  other  Gospels  represent  the  duties  of 
the  disciples,  John  their  privileges ;  the  other 
Gospels  bid  them  what  they  ought  to  do,  John 
points  them  to  what  they  can  become  ;  the  other 
GosjDels  represent  Christ  chiefly  as  a  Saviour 
coming  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  is  lost, 
John  as  a  Friend  abiding  with  his  o^\^l ;  in  the 
other  Gospels  he  is  a  Shepherd  in  the  wilderness, 
in  John  the  Shepherd  in  the  fold  ;  in  the  other 
Gospels  the  Son  is  either  still  in  the  far  country 
or  but  just  returning  to  his  Father's  home,  in 
John  he  has  returned  and  is  abiding  in  his 
Father's  love.  In  the  other  Gospels,  therefore, 
Jesus  is  chiefly  represented  as  a  divine  teacher, 
in  John  as  a  recognized  Saviour ;  in  the  other 
Gospels  as  the  Son  of  man,  in  John  as  the  Son  of 
God ;  in  the  other  Gospels  we  have  seen  him  as 
he  appears  to  the  wanderer,  in  John  as  he  is  in- 
terpreted by  the  heart  of  the  saved  ;  in  the  other 
Gospels  the  bridegroom  is  coming  for  his  bride 
and  is  still  the  Unknown ;  in  John  he  has  taken 
her  to  himself,  and  her  love  at  least  dimly  recog- 
nizes in  him  the  One  among  ten  thousand  and 
altogether  lovely. 

These  aspects  of  truth  may  be  easily  discerned 
in  even  a  brief  survey  of  the  Fourth  Gospel. 

John  opens  his  narrative  by  an  introduction,  in 
which  he  borrows  the  mystical  language  of  Ori- 
ental philosophy  to  characterize  Jesus,  whom  he 
describes  as  the  Life,  the  Light,  the  Word ;  he 
reports  John  the  Baptist,  not  as  the  preacher  of 
the  baptism  of  repentance,  but  as  a  prophet  of 
the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world  (a.  i) ;  in  his  account  of  the  conversa- 
tion with  Nicodemus  (ch.  .3),  he  points  out  the 
origin  of  the  spiritual  life  which  Christ  imparts 
to  the  believer,  "  Te  must  be  bom  from  above  ;" 
in  his  report  of  the  conversation  with  the  Sa- 
maritan woman,  and  of  the  discourse  at  Caper- 
naum (chaps.  4, 6),  he  indicates  the  means  by  which 


that  life  is  sustained,  by  appropriating  faith  in 
Christ ;  and  in  his  record  of  the  intermediate 
discourse  at  Jerusalem  (ch.  s),  the  basis  for  that 
faith  in  Christ's  own  portrayal  of  himself  as  the 
Son  and  manifestation  of  God  the  Father  ;  in  his 
report  of  the  discourses  in  the  Temple,  he  sets 
forth  in  a  different  form  the  same  truths,  (ch.  i), 
declares  the  emancipation  from  bondage  which 
faith  in  the  Son  achieves  for  the  soul,  contrasts 
it  with  the  life  of  bondage  unto  sin  (ch.  s),  and 
describes  the  safety  and  security  of  the  disciples, 
a  security  purchased  by  the  death  of  their  Lord 
(ch.  10) ;  he  narrates  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus, 
therein  portraying  Jesus  as  the  resurrection  and 
the  life  (ch.  n) ;  he  reports  those  words  of  Jesus  at 
the  Last  Supper,  the  full  meaning  of  which  no 
Christian  experience  has  ever  yet  fully  sounded, 
in  which  is  promised  to  the  believing  disciple  a 
spiritual  manifestation  of  God  to  the  soul,  an 
abiding  life  of  God  in  the  soul,  and  a  joyful  real- 
ization of  all  spiritual  fullness  in  God  by  the  soul 
(chaps.  14,  15,  16) ;  he  records  the  only  reported 
intercessorj'  prayer  of  the  Lord  for  his  disci- 
ples (ch.  n),  the  burden  of  which  is,  "As  thou 
Father  art  in  me  and  I  in  you,  that  they  also 
may  be  one  in  us  ;"  in  the  account  of  the  Passion 
he  alone  gives  the  short  dialogue  between 
Jesus  and  Pilate,  in  which  the  Lord  declares 
himself  a  king  and  his  kingdom  one  of  everlast- 
ing truth  ;  and  in  his  account  of  the  resurrection 
(ch.  20),  he  tells  the  story  of  Thomas's  unbelief  and 
of  Christ's  warm  commendation  of  "those  who 
have  not  seen  and  yet  have  believed."  Life 
throu,p;h  faith — this  is  the  burden  of  John's 
Evangel ;  Jesus  Christ  the  Life-giver,  the  disci- 
ple of  Jesus  Christ  the  recipient  of  a  new  life — 
this  is  the  good  news  which  constitutes  the 
Fourth  Gospel. 

When  and  where  and  for  whom  written. 
A  very  ancient  testimony,  that  of  Irenaeus,  re- 
peated by  Jerome  and  later  writers,  fixes  the 
place  of  publication  at  Ephesus.  This  accords 
with  the  character  of  the  Gospel  itself.  The 
Oriental  phraseology  employed  in  the  first  chap- 
ter especially,  but  also  in  less  degree  in  other 
portions  of  the  Gospel,  indicates  that  it  was  writ- 
ten in  a  city  where  Oriental  philosophy  had  a 
strong  hold ;  and  of  aU  Greek  cities  Ephesus  was 
the  most  Oriental.  Moreover,  an  ancient  and  ap- 
parently ti-ustworthy  tradition  makes  this  city 
the  home  of  John  in  his  later  years.  The  time 
of  its  composition  is  uncertain.  Irenaeus  states 
that  it  was  the  latest  written  of  the  four  Gospels, 
The  character  of  the  Gospel,  as  we  have  seen, 
confirms  this  tradition.  The  book  bears  marks 
of  being  written  in  old  age ;  it  is  apparently 
the  production  of  a  ripened  Christian  experience. 
Alford  fixes  the  date  as  between  a.  d.  70  and  a.  d. 
85 ;  Macdonald,  a.  d.  85  or  86  ;  Godet,  between 
A.  D.  SO  and  90 ;  Tholuck,  not  far  from  A.  d.  100. 


THE    GOSPEL    ACCORDING    TO 


JOHN. 


1 :  1-18.  THE  CHRISTOLOGT  OF  .lOHX.— The  pre- 
ExisTENCE  OF  Christ.  —  The  creative  power  op 
Christ.— The  regenerating  work  of  Christ.— The 

ILLUMINATION  GIVEN  BY  CHRIST. — ThE  DIVINE  MANI- 
FESTATION IN  Christ. — The  Word  ;  the  Light  ;  the 
Life  ;  the  Tabernacle  ;  the  Onlt-begotten  Son. — 
Contrasted  with  John  the  Baptist  ;  with  Moses. — 
The  gifts  he  confers  ;  the  welcome  he  receives. 

Fbeliminart  Note. —  The  ordinary  English 
reader  will  find  no  difficulty  in  comprehending 
the  truths  which  John  expresses  in  this  intro- 
duction to  his  Gospel,  viz.,  the  pre-existeiice, 
divine  attributes,  and  divine  nature  of  that 
Jesus,  the  Messiah,  of  whom  his  book  is  writ- 
ten. John  identifies  him  with  the  Word,  which 
was  with  God  from  eternity,  and  with  the  Light 
which  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world.  But  it  is  not  so  clear  why  he  should  use 
the  peculiar  and  somewhat  mysterious  language 
here  employed ;  for  the  full  understanding  of 
this,  some  historical  explanation  is  necessary. 
My  object  hi  this  note  is  to  afEord  very  briefly 
this  historical  explanation,  as  a  basis  for  more 
detailed  consideration  of  particular  words  and 
phrases  in  the  notes. 

From  the  earliest  ages  the  ablest  minds  have 
been  perplexed  by  the  problem  how  to  reconcile 
faith  in  an  all-wise,  all-powerful,  and  all-benevo- 
lent Creator,  with  the  fact  of  a  creation  full  of 
sin  and  suffering.  One  of  the  ablest  thinkers  of 
modern  times  (John  Stuart  Mill)  has  declared 
the  problem  insoluble,  and  from  the  facts  of 
creation  has  deduced  the  conclusion  that  the 
Creator  is  neither  all-wise,  all-powerful,  nor  all- 
good  ;  to  use  his  own  words  respecting  the 
Creator,  "his  wisdom  is  possibly,  his  power 
certainly  limited,  and  his  goodness,  though  real, 
is  not  likely  to  have  been  the  only  motive  which 
actuated  him  in  the  work  of  creation.'' — {Three 
Essays  in  Relicjion.)  Oriental  philosophy,  pon- 
dering this  problem,  proposed  for  its  solution  an 
hypothesis  which  to  a  Western  mind  seems  sin- 
gularly puerile  and  fantastic,  and  yet  which,  in 
slightly  different  forms,  gained,  at  one  period  in 
the  world's  history,  an  acceptance  quite  as  wide- 
spread as  any  form  of  philosophy  or  theology  of 
to-day.  This  hypothesis,  however  modified  in 
form,  was  in  essence  this,  that  the  evil  in  the 
world  came  not  from  the  Creator,  but  from 
some  other  and  inferior  Being.  In  the  Persian 
religion  there  were  two  deities,  a  good  and  an 
evil  god,  Ormuzd  and  Ahriman,  struggling  with 
each  other  for  the  supremacy.  In  the  Chaldean 
philosophy  Light  was  the  soul  of  the  universe 


and  the  Original  First  Cause ;  in  the  lower 
realms,  far  below  the  space  filled  with  pure  and 
unapproachable  light,  were  darkness,  night,  and 
all  forth-springing  evils,  which  either  the  Su- 
preme Light  regarded  it  beneath  his  dignity  to 
contend  with,  or  which  were  indestructible  and 
could  only  be  confined  within  narrow  limits,  not 
destroyed.  In  the  Hindoo  philosophy,  the  Great 
First  Cause,  the  beatific  Brahm,  Uved  in  perpetual 
repose,  in  a  supreme  and  serene  indifference  to 
all  things.  From  him,  by  emanations,  proceeded 
lesser  deities,  and  from  these,  by  a  process  more 
or  less  remote,  a  corrupt  creation.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  Alexandria, 
founded  by  and  named  in  honor  of  Alexander 
the  Great,  was  one  of  the  intellectual  centres  of 
the  world.  Here  was  gathered  a  library  of  over 
700,000  volumes ;  here  congregated  Oriental 
dreamers,  Greek  philosophers,  and  Jewish  re- 
ligionists. Here,  in  the  third  century  before 
Christ,  was  translated  into  the  Greek  language 
the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  Here  about  20 
B.  c,  was  born  Philo,  a  Jew,  of  a  priestly 
family,  a  philosopher  and  litterateur,  and  a  volu- 
minous writer.  He  was  not  an  original  thinker ; 
his  works  are  therefore  all  the  more  valuable  as 
a  reflection  of  the  current  mystical  philosophy 
of  his  age  and  school.  This  dreamy  philosophy 
it  is  difficult  to  translate  into  modern  forms  of 
thought.  So  far  as  this  can  be  done,  it  ma}^  be 
said  to  have  involved  the  following  statements  : 
God  is  simply  the  absolute,  unchangeable  Exist- 
ence, incomprehensible,  inconceivable,  yet  ever 
to  be  the  object  of  our  thoughts  and  meditations. 
He  could  not  come  directly  into  contact  with 
matter  without  losing  something  of  his  ineffable 
excellence.  Hence  he  gave  forth  certain  divine 
powers  or  influences,  "incorporeal  potencies," 
which  surround  God  as  the  members  of  a  court 
surround  an  earthly  monarch.  The  highest  of 
these  is  the  divine  Logos  or  Word  of  God. 
Through  this  Word  the  world  was  created, 
and  to  the  influence  of  the  inferior  potencies 
the  evUs  of  the  world  must  be  attributed. 
Again,  borrowing  the  imagery  of  the  Chaldeans, 
Philo  conceives  of  God  as  the  pure  and  absolute 
Light,  the  original  source  of  effulgence,  the 
Logos  or  Word  as  the  nearest  circle  of  light 
proceeding  from  it,  and  each  separate  power  as 
a  separate  ray,  fading  more  and  more  away  into 
darkness,  as  it  becomes  removed  from  the 
original  source  and  centre.  From. this  phil- 
osophy was  later  developed  that  peculiar  and 
incomprehensible   form   of   thought  known  aa 

13 


14 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  1. 


Gnosticism.  This  Gnostic  philosophy,  which 
reached  its  climax  in  the  second  century  after 
Christ,  undertook  to  describe  in  detail  all  the 
emanations  from  the  original  inconceivable  deity  ; 
Reason,  the  Word,  practical  Wisdom,  theoretical 
Wisdom,  Power,  Light,  Life,  were  all  lesser 
deities.  The  God  of  the  Jews  was  one  ol  these 
lower  deities ;  Jesus  Christ  was  a  higher  deity— 
the  Reason  accouding  to  some,  the  Word  accord- 
ing to  others,  who  came  to  deliver  the  world 
from  its  subjection  to  the  inferior  deity,  and 
who  entered  the  body  of  Jesus  at  his  baptism, 
and  departed  from  it  just  before  his  crucifixion. 
Whether  John  was  acquainted  with  the  writings 
of  Philo  we  do  not  know  ;  but  he  was  certainly 
familiar  with  this  Gnostic  philosophy.  It  had 
already  begun  to  enter  into  and  corrupt  the 
Christian  church  during  the  lifetime  of  Paul, 
whose  writings  contain  frequent  references  to 
different  phases  of  it  (e.  g.,  Coi.  2  :  is ;  i  Tim.  4  :  1-4 ; 
2  Tim.  2 :  16-is) ;  Ephcsus,  a  city  of  luxury,  effem- 
inacy and  superstition  (Acts,  ch.  19,  notes),  was  a 
centre  of  this  philosophy  ;  in  Paul's  address  to 
the  elders  of  the  church  atEphesus  (Acts  20 :  29,  so), 
and  in  his  letter  to  Timothy,  first  bishop  of  that 
church  (subs,  to  2  Tim.),  hc  especially  wai-ns  against 
it  (2  Tim.  2 :  16-18 ;  3 : 8, 9) ;  and  Ephcsus  was  John's 
residence,  and  probably  the  city  in  which  he 
wrote  his  Gospel.     (See  Introduction.) 

John,  then,  employs  the  language  of  this 
mystical  philosophy,  in  order  more  effectually 
to  refute  its  errors.  He  finds  a  certain  substra- 
tum of  truth,  viz.,  that  there  is  one  God  and  one 
Mediator  between  God  and  man,  underlying 
this  superstructure  of  error  ;  he  begins  his  Gos- 
pel by  occupying  this  ground,  and  by  his  phrase- 
ology brings  himself  into  sympathy  with  his 
iinostic  readers  ;  then,  from  this  common  ground 
he  leads  them  on  to  the  truth  respecting  the 
incarnation.  It  is  true,  he  says  to  them,  that 
there  is  a  Word  of  God,  but  this  Word  was  from 
the  beginning  with  God,  and  is  indeed  God  him- 
self, who  is  not  incommunicable,  but  a  self- 
manifesting  God.  It  is  true  that  there  is  a  Life 
and  a  Light ;  but  the  Life  is  God  himself,  not  an 
inferior  and  subordinate  deity  ;  and  the  Light  is 
not  remote  and  unapproachable,  but  lighteth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world.  For  this 
Mediator  is  not  an  emanation  from  God,  but  God 
himself,  the  true  Light  shining  in  the  darkness 
(verss  5),  the  true  Life  by  whom  we  can  not  only 
commune  with  Christ,  but  become  the  very 
children  of  God  (verses  12,  isV  And  he  has  come 
and  tabernacled  among  men  in  the  flesh,  in  the 
earthly  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

It  only  remains  to  add  that  there  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Old  Testament  (see  notes  below)  a 
Scriptural  basis  for  John's  use  of  the  language 
here,  particularly  his  phrase  "the  Word  of 
God,"   and  that  there  is  not  the  least  ground 


for  the  claims  of  some  rationalistic  scholars  that 
John  derived  his  doctrine  here  from  Philo,  or 
from  the  Alexandrian  or  Gnostic  schools.  On 
the  contrary,  his  doctrine  and  theirs  are  radically 
inconsistent.  Philo  holds  that  matter  is  inher- 
ently defiling,  that  God  cannot  come  into  contact 
with  matter,  even  to  fashion  it  in  creation,  with- 
out defilement ;  John,  that  God  "  was  made  flesh 
and  dwelt  among  us, ' '  and  yet  so  far  from  being 
defiled  thereby,  manifested  his  glory,  "the glory 
of  the  only-begotten  of  the  Father." 

1.  lu  the  be§:iunius.  John  begins  the 
Gospel  where  Moses  began  the  Law.  The  em- 
ployment of  and  the  reference  to  the  language 
of  the  first  verse  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis 
is  unmistakable.  In  that  beginning  in  which 
God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth  was  the 
Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God  and  was  God 
and  was  the  One  through  whom  the  act  of  crea- 
tion was  consummated.  So  in  Prov.,  chap.  8, 
Wisdom  personified  is  represented  as  with  God 
in  the  creation  and  from  the  beginning  (see  especially 
verses  23-29).  For  parallel  passages  teaching  the 
pre-existence  of  Christ,  see  John  8  :  58  ;  17:5; 
Phil.  2  :  5,  6  ;  1  John  1:1.  In  Rev.  3  :  14  he  is 
described  as  "the  beginning  of  the  creation  of 
God,"  but  this  dues  not  necessarily  imply  that 
he  was  a  created  Being.  See  notes  there. — Was 
the  Word.  There  are  several  Greek  words 
meaxiing  word  ;  (1  and  2)  ^»],««  and  iinog,  word  in 
the  grammatical  sense,  i.  e.,  that  which  is  spoken ; 

(3)  fiv9oc:,  word  in  the  rhetorical  sense,  that  which 
is  delivered  by  words,  the  subject  expressed ; 

(4)  uKjuu,  word  in  a  technical  sense,  strictly  a 
name,  and  only  because  words  are  names  or  appel- 
lations; (5)  }.6yos,  word  in  the  philosophical  sense, 
the  outward  form  by  which  the  inward  thought 
is  expressed.  The  latter  term  is  employed  here. 
As  the  thoughts  or  experiences  of  the  soul  are 
completely  hidden  from  us  till  they  are  uttered, 
so  God  is  the  Unknown  and  the  Unknowable, 
save  as  he  utters  himself,  discloses  his  nature  to 
us,  which  he  does  chiefly  if  not  solely  through 
him  who  is  for  that  reason  called  the  Word,  i.  e., 
the  utterance  of  God.  The  metaphor  which 
underlies  this  phraseology  is  in  part  interpreted 
by  the  saying  of  Wordsworth  that  language  is 
the  incarnation  of  ideas.  (2)  In  the  Old  Testa- 
ment we  have  a  partial  employment  of  the  same 
symbolism.  In  Moses'  account  of  the  creation, 
God  is  represented  as  calling  the  various  powers 
of  nature  into  being  by  a  tvord.    "  God  said  Light 

be  !    Light  was  !"       (Oen.  l  :  3,  see  also  6,  9,  11,  etc.)       In 

the  later  Hebrew  poetry  this  symbol  is  made  more 
prominent  in  the  distinct  declaration  that  "by 
the  word  of  the  Lord  were  the  heavens  made." 

(Ps.  33  :  6  ;  comp.  107  :  20 ;  Isaiah  55  :  10,  11  ;  see  also  Heb.  11  :  3.) 

The  same  symbol,  in  a  slightly  different  form,  re- 
appears in  Prov.,  chap.  8,  which  is  connected  with 
that  employed  here  by  the  language  of  certain 


Ch.  L] 


JOHN. 


15 


CHAPTER    I. 

tN  »  the  beginning  was  the  AN'ord,""  and  the  Word  was 
with"  God,  and  the  Word  was''  God. 


2  The  same  was  in  the  beginning  with  God. 

3  All"  things  were  made   by  liim  ;  and  without  him 
was  not  anytliing  made  that  was  made. 

4  In  him '  was  life  ;  and  the  life  was  the  lights  of  men. 


.  8  :22,  31  ;   Col.  1  :  16,  17  ;    1  John  I  ;  l....b  Rov.  19:  13.... c  ch.  n:5....d  Phil.  2  :  6  ;    Heb.  1  :8-13;    1  John  6  :  7..  ..e  Ps.  33:6; 
Eph.  3:9....fch.  6  :  26;  1  John  6  :  11.   ..gch.  8:  12. 


of  the  apocryphal  books,  e.  g.,  "I  (Wisdom) 
came  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Most  High  aud 
covered  the  earth  as  a  cloud ' '  (Ecciesiasticus  24  :  3). 
"She  (Wisdom)  is    the    breath    of   the   power 

of    God"     (Wisdom  of   Solomon  1  :  25).      (3)    The   Same 

symbolism  was  employed  as  we  have  seen  (Prei. 
Note  above)  in  the  mystical  philosophy  of  Alexan- 
dria and  of  later  Gnosticism,  with  which  John 
was  famiUar,  and  of  which,  Ephesus,  his  city, 
was  a  centre,  to  represent  an  eon  or  emanation 
for  the  deity.  That  the  Word  here  does  not 
mean  the  Bible  or  the  Gospel  is  evident  both 
from  the  connection,  since  it  cannot  be  said  that 
the  Bible  became  flesh  (ver.  u),  and  also  from 
John's  usage,  who  never  employs  the  phrase 
Word  of  God  to  designate  the  Bible,  but  usually 
the  term  Scriptures  or  writings  (John  2 :  22;  5  :  39; 

7  :  38,  42;    19  :  24,   28,   36,   37,    etc.).        MorCOVer  he   dOCS 

employ  this  phraseology  elsewhere  to  designate 

Jesus    Christ    (l  John  1:1;    Rev.  19  :  13).        It    CanUOt 

mean  the  Speaking  One  nor  the  Promised  One. 
Though  both  these  meanings  have  been  attri- 
buted to  it,  it  is  not  grammatically  capable  of 
either  interpretation.  There  is  classical  author- 
ity for  rendering  it  Iteaso7i  or  Order,  and  this 
meaning  it  still  retains  in  words  ending  with 
ology,  such  as  ge-ologij  (ge-logos),  the  order, 
i.  e.,  science  of  the  earth ;  path-ology  (pathos- 
logos),  the  order,  i.  e.,  science  of  disease.  But 
it  is  never  used  with  this  signification  by  John, 
and  is  never  but  once  .so  used  in  the  N.  T. 
(i  Peter  3 :  is),  if  eveu  there  the  translation  is 
strictly  accurate,  Avhich  is  doubtful.  Seeking, 
then,  to  understand  John  as  he  would  have  been 
understood  by  his  contemporaries,  I  think  it 
clear  that  he  declares,  not  that  Reason  or  Wis- 
dom was  in  the  beginning  with  God,  nor  Speech, 
nor  the  Promised  Messiah,  but  the  Word,  I.  e., 
the  One  by  and  throitgh  whom  he  was  chiefly  to  he 
manifested  to  the  world,  as  one  soul  is  to  another 
by  utterance. — And  the  Word  was  with  God 
and  the  Word  was  God.  Grammatically  the 
last  clause  of  the  sentence  may  be  read,  and  God 
was  the  Word.  But  the  obvious  connection  calls 
for  the  rendering  of  our  English  version,  and  it 
is  the  rendering  adopted  by  the  best  scholars. 
There  is  a  difference  in  the  language  of  the  first 
and  last  clause  of  this  sentence  in  the  original 
which  is  significant,  but  difficult,  if  not  impos- 
sible, to  render  in  the  English.  In  the  first 
clause,  "^Ae  Word  ivas  with  Ood,^''  the  article 
accompanies  the  word  God ;  in  the  second 
clause,  '■^the  Word  was  God,'^  it  is  wanting.     We 


should  measurably  reflect  the  meaning  by  read- 
ing the  passage,  "the  Word  was  with  God  aud 
the  Word  was  divine  ;"  or  "  the  Word  was  with 
the  Father  and  the  Word  was  God." 

2.  The  same  was  in  the  beginning  with 
God.  John  recurs  to  his  first  statement  and 
reiterates  it,  not  merely  for  the  sake  of  empha- 
sis, but  also  to  mark  a  real  distinction  between 
the  Word  and  the  unknown  Father.  For  he 
labors  to  express  two  conflicting  and  even 
apparently  contradictory  ideas,  the  identity  of 
the  Word  with  God  and  the  individuality  of  the 
Word,  as  distinct  from  the  infinite  and  invisible 
deity.  This  contradiction  subsequent  theology 
has  endeavored  in  vain  to  eliminate  by  drawing 
distinctions  between  essence  and  substance,  per- 
son and  being,  etc.,  in  such  phraseologies  as  three 
in  substance  and  one  in  essence,  or  three  persons 
in  one  God.  This  philosophy  of  the  Trinity  is 
extra-Scriptural,  framed  to  harmonize  teachings 
respecting  the  divine  nature,  which  are  best 
harmonized  by  the  frank  confession  that  the 
knowledge  of  the  divine  nature  is  too  Avonderful 
for  us,  we  cannot  attain  unto  it  (Pa.  139 :  6 ;  job 
11:7).  So  Chalmers,  "The  Father  is  God,  the 
Son  is  God,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  God.  God  is  one. 
If  you  ask  me  to  reconcile  the  four  (propositions), 
I  answer,  I  cannot.  We  require  no  one  to  recon- 
cile the  personality  of  each  with  the  unity  of 
God."  So  Calvin,  "I  could  wish  them  (the 
extra-Scriptural  phrases,  person,  hypostasis, 
etc.)  to  be  buried  in  oblivion,  provided  this 
truth  were  universally  received,  that  the  Father, 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  are  the  one  God ;  and 
that  nevertheless  the  Son  is  not  the  Father, 
nor  the  Spirit  the  Son,  but  that  they  are  dis- 
tinguished from  each  other  by  some  peculiar 
properties." 

3.  All  things  Avere  made  by  him.  To 
interpret  this  language  "All  things  "  as  meaning 
simply  the  moral  creation,  is  to  distort  plain 
language  in  order  to  conform  it  to  preconceived 
ideas,  a  fault  in  exegesis  of  which  no  school  of 
theology  is  entirely  innocent.  The  reference  to 
Genesis,  ch.  1,  is  unmistakable.  The  declaration 
is  parallel  to  and  interpreted  by  such  passages  as 
Col.  1  :  16 ;  1  Cor.  8:6;  Heb.  1  :  2.  The  Greek 
student  will  observe,  however,  and  the  English 
student  should  know,  that  the  language  here 
implies  that  the  Word  w^as  the  instrument  by 
which  God  created  the  "all  things,"  not  the 
original  source  of  creative  power.  There  are  two 
Greek  prepositions  translated  in  English  ^' by,^' 


/ 


IG 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  L 


5  And  the  light  shineth  in*  darkness  ;  and  the  dark- 
ness comprehended '  it  not. 


6  There  was  a  manJ  sent  from  God,  whose   name 
•was  John. 


h  cb.  3  :  19. . .  .i  1  Cor.  2  :  14. . .  .j  Luke  3  :  2,  3. 


oue  (i/^  signifying  ttie  source  or  origin  from 
which  anything  proceeds,  or  the  power  by  which 
it  is  produced;  the  other  (t)'")  signifying  the 
means  or  instrument  through  which  it  is  pro- 
duced. One  indicates  the  original,  the  other  the 
proximate  cause.  The  preposition  here  used  is 
the  latter,  and  the  exact  meaning  of  the  sen- 
tence will  be  imparted  by  the  rendering  All 
things  were  made  hij  means  of  him  or  through 
him.  With  this  interpretation  corresponds  the 
general  teaching  of  the  New  Testament,  which 
represents  Christ,  both  in  his  earthly  life  and 
in  his  heavenly  administration,  as  always  the 
executor  of  his  Father's  will.  This  is  in  some 
sense  especially  prominent  in  John's  Gosi:iel  (see 
for  example  John  5  :  23,  33,  37  ;  6  :  37,  44,  57 ; 
8  :  38,  43 ;  10  :  39  ;  14  :  10 ;  17  :  IS,  34) ;  but  it  is 
equally  clearly  taught  elsewhere  (Luke  3  :  49 ; 
1  Cor.  15  :  27,  28 ;  Phil.  3:9;  Col.  1  :  19 ;  comp. 
Mark  10  :  40,  note  and  references  there). — And 
without  him  was  not  anything  made 
that  was  made.  Simply  an  emphatic  and 
exhaustive  reiteration,  such  as  is  not  infrequent 
in  fervid  writing.  For  analogous  rhetorical 
repetition  in  John  see  verse  20 ;  1  John  2  :  4,  27. 
Some  manuscripts  and  some  few  scholars  put 
a  period  at  the  close  of  the  first  clause  of  the 
sentence,  and  connect  the  last  clause  with  the 
following  verse,  so  that  the  passage  reads  :  And 
without  him  was  not  anything  made.  And  what 
originated  in  him  was  life.  But  while  this  read- 
ing is  grammatically  possible,  it  is  generally 
repudiated  by  the  best  scholars,  who  accept  the 
punctuation  and  rendering  of  our  English  version 
as  correct. 

4.  In  him  Avas  life.  There  is  probably  a 
reference  here  again  to  the  language  of  Gnostic 
philosophy  (see  Prei.  Note),  which  supposcd  Other 
eons  or  emanations  from  God,  besides  the  Word, 
prominent  among  which  was  Light  and  Life. 
Here,  as  throughout  this  introduction,  John 
employs  the  language  of  the  Gnostics  to  correct 
their  errors.  The  general  and  practical  teaching 
for  us  of  the  declaration  is  that  Christ  is  the 
source  of  both  physical  or  external  life  (coi.  i :  n), 
and  of  intellectual  and  spiritual  life  (ch.  lo :  lo). 
It  is  admirably  interpreted  by  Kaulbach's  fa- 
mous cartoon  of  the  Reformation,  in  which 
Luther  with  the  open  Bible  in  his  hand  is  repre- 
sented as  the  centre  of  the  intellectual  and 
moral  awakening  which  characterized  that  cen- 
tury. Observe,  since  Christ  is  Life  and  Light, 
that  any  religion  which  dwarfs  man,  represses 
their  life,  belittles  them,  and  any  which  shuts 
them  up  in  darkness  and  denies  them  intellec- 


tual freedom  and  progress  in  any  direction,  is  so 
far  anti-Christ.  The  cause  of  Christ  has  nothing 
to  fear  from  any  intellectual  life  or  any  light  of 
scientitic  discovery. — And  the  life  was  the 
light  of  men.  Not  merely  shall  be,  not  merely 
is,  but  was.  The  intimation  is  that  all  the  light 
of  Old  Testament  prophecy  and  instniction,  if 
not  all  that  dim  reUgious  light  which  has  illu- 
minated even  heathen  nations,  through  special 
instructors  such  as  Buddha,  Confucius  and 
Socrates,  came  through  the  Word,  i.  e.,  through 
the  Mediator  by  whom  the  invisible  God  reveals 
himself  to  man,  of  which  revelation  the  incarna- 
tion (ver.  u)  is  only  a  part,  though  a  most  impor- 
tant part.  Compare  with  the  language  here 
1  John  1  :  .5. 

5.  And  the  light  shineth  in  the  dark- 
ness. Shines,  not  merely  appears ;  a  real  illu- 
mination is  indicated;  shines,  not  shone;  a  present 
and  continuous  illumination  is  indicated  ;  <^e  dark- 
ness, not  merely  darkness ;  as,  before  God  said 
"Let  there  be  light,"  the  earth  is  reported  as  en- 
veloped in  darkness  (oen.  i :  2),  so,  before  and  apart 
from  this  spiritual  illumination,  through  the 
Light  of  the  world,  the  nations  of  the  earth  were 
in  gross  darkness.  Comp.  Isaiah  43  :  0,  7 ;  Matt. 
4  :  16,  note  ;  Ephcs.  5  :  7,  8 ;  John  12  :  46. — And. 
the  darkness  comprehended  it  not.  This 
has  been  universally  true  in  the  world's  history  ; 
the  dim  light  of  conscience  has  never  been 
apprehended,  taken  hold  of  by  heathen  nations. 
The  light  afforded  by  special  and  signal  moral 
geniuses  has  never  been  comprehended  aright 
by  the  people,  as  witness  the  deterioration  of 
Buddhism  and  Confucianism  ;  the  teachings  of 
the  Jewish  prophets  were  not  comprehended  ; 
they  shone  in  darkness  which  was  not  dispelled 
by  their  instructors;  and  the  clearer  light  of 
Christ  has  never,  even  in  the  best  ages,  been 
more  than  very  imperfectly  apprehended,  even 
in  the  church.  Here  the  primary  reference  is 
certainly  to  the  constant  closing  of  their  eyes  by 
the  Jews  to  the  light  of  the  Old  Testament 
teachings,  concerning  the  spirit  of  true  religion, 
the  nature  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the 
character  and  appearance  of  the  promised  Mes- 
siah. For  the  reason  why  the  darkness  does 
not  comprehend  the  light,  see  chap.  3  :  19 ;. 
comp.  Matt.  13  :  15,  note. 

6,  7.  There  was  a  man  sent  from  God. 
From  a  characterization  of  the  light,  John  passes 
to  a  description  of  the  incarnation  and  its  object, 
and  to  a  discrimination  between  the  incarnate 
Light  and  the  prophet  who  foretold  its  coming. 
From  the  Greek  word  here  rendered  se^it  [clnua- 


Cii.  L] 


JOHN. 


17 


7  The  same  rame  for  a  witness,  to  bear  witness  of  tlie 
Light,  that  all  men  through  him  might  believe. 

8  He ''  was  not  that  Light,  but  was  sent  to  bear  wit- 
ness of  that  Ligtit. 


9  That  was  the  true  Light,'  which  lighteth  every  maa 
that  coiiieth  into  the  world. 

10  He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made  by 
him,  and  "  the  world  knew  liim  not. 


k  Acts  19  :  4 1  Isa.  49  :  C  .  , 


riAAw,  apostello)  comes  our  word  apostle.  The 
apostle  is  a  man  sent  from  God  ;  Christ  is  the 
word  or  utterance,  or  manifestation  of  God. 
Comp.  Heb.  1:1-3. — John.  The  Baptist. — 
The  same  came  for  a  witness.  As  one  who 
enters  the  witness-stand  to  testify  what  he  knows, 
80  John  the  Baptist  came  to  declare  what  had 
been  revealed  to  him  concerning  the  coming 
Messiah.  Comp.  John  5  :  33-35. — To  bear  wit- 
ness of  the  L.is;ht.  Simply  a  repetition  and 
amplification  of  the  previous  clause  of  the  sen- 
tence. He  was  not  a  mere  preacher  of  the  law, 
nor  of  the  duty  of  repentance,  though  this  is  the 
phase  of  his  ministry  most  prominent  in  the  re- 
ports of  Matt.  (.3 : 1-1  i),  and  Luke  (s :  i-is).  He 
was  a  foreruimer  of  the  great  King,  sent  to  bear 
witness  of  his  approach.  And  this  phase  of  his 
ministry,  though  indicated  in  the  other  Gospels 

(Matt.  3  :  11  ;    11  :  9  ,    Mark  1  :  7,  8  ;   Luke  3  :  16,  17),  is   most 

clearly  brought  out  in  John  (verses  93,  eg-si;). — That 
all  through  him  might  believe.  That  is, 
through  John  might  believe  in  the  Light.  The 
other  construction,  through  the  Light  might  be- 
lieve, i.  e.,  in  God,  is  forced  and  unnatural,  even 
if  grammatically  admissible.  The  true  office  of 
the  Christian  ministry  is  so  to  bear  witness  to  the 
Light  which  the  preacher  knoivs  by  his  own  ex- 
perience (Rom.  7  :  14  ;  8  :  28  ;  2  Tim.  1  :  12),  that  men  may 

believe  in  and  accept  that  Light  (2  Cor.  4 : 5 1  coi. 

1  :  28.) 

8,  9.  An  early  Gnostic  sect  (second  century) 
believed  that  John  was  the  Messiah.  The  pri- 
mary reference  here  appears  to  be  to  this  error, 
which,  in  common  with  other  Gnostic  errors  (see 
Pre!.  Note),  Johu  aims  to  correct  in  this  introduc- 
tion to  his  Gospel.  Compare,  with  the  declara- 
tion here,  Christ's  characterization  of  John,  "He 
was  a  burning  and  a  shining  light"  (ch.  5 :  35). 
The  Greek  scholar  will  observe  that  the  English 
word  '■'■Ikiht ' '  represents  different  Greek  words  in 
the  two  passages.  Here  the  word  is  one  signifying 
original  light  (ff  wc),  there  rather  a  borrowed  or 
reflected  light  (Ai'/ioc),  though  the  latter  word  is 
once  applied  to  Christ  (Rev.  21 :  23).  We  are  to  be 
in  a  true  sense  the  former  kind  of  light  (f/iwc. 
Matt.  5 :  14),  because  Christ  in  us  is  our  light,  and 
by  his  indwelling  we  are  made  partakers  of  his 
nature  (2  pa.  1  : 4),  and  men  seeing  this  Ught  glo- 
rify, not  us,  but  Him  who  shines  in  and  through 
us.— The  true  Light  was  that  which  light- 
eth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world. 
There  is  some  difficulty  about  the  construction 
of  this  sentence ;  this  appears  to  me  to  be  the 
best.    For  other  constructions,  see  Alford  and 


Meyer.  On  the  meaning  of  the  declaration  ob- 
serve, (1)  That  John's  use  of  the  word  true  here 
is  interpreted  by  his  use  of  the  same  word  in 
other  and  analogous  passages,  e.g.,  "true  wor- 
shippers" (John  4. -23);  "true  bread"  (eh.  6:32); 
"  true  vine  "  (ch.  15 : 1).  The  Hght,  the  bread,  the 
vine  of  earth  are  regarded  only  as  symbols  of 
the  spiritual  truths  which  they  parabolically  rep- 
resent. Christ  is  the  original  pattern,  or  source 
of  light ;  all  prophets  and  teachers  are  only  re- 
flections from  him ;  all  material  light  is  a  symbol 
or  parable  of  his  illuminating  grace.  (3)  The 
phrase,  ^HUjlUeth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world,''''  is  not  to  be  taken  as  an  hyperbole.  The 
latter  clause  is  added,  not  merely,  as  Meyer,  "  as 
a  solemn  redundance,"  "an  epic  fullness  of 
words,"  but  to  emphasize  and  make  clear  the 
declaration,  and  to  show  that  "every  man" 
means  not  merely  (a)  the  Jews,  nor  {b)  those  who 
accept  Christ  as  their  light,  nor  (r)  the  Christian 
nations,  but  literally  all  men.  The  every  {nd?) 
here  is  thus  distmguished  from  the  all  {nH:)  of 
verse  7  above.  Christ  is  the  universal  light ;  aU, 
intellectual  and  political  as  well  as  moral  illumi- 
nation has  come  through  him  ;  and  this,  not  only 
in  Christendom,  but  also  in  heathendom.  Such 
light  as  struggles  through  the  thick  darkness,  in 
a  partial  disclosure  of  divine  truth  afforded  by  a 
Buddha  or  a  Confucius,  or  dimly  recognized  by  a 
Cornelius,  comes  from  Him  who,  in  larger  or 
smaller  measure,  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh 
into  the  world.  By  this  declaration  we  are  to 
interpret  such  passages  as  Matt.  8  :  11 ;  Acts 
10  :  35 ;  Rev.  5:9;  whoever  accepts  even  this 
imperfect  and  dim  light,  mistakenly  called  the 
light  of  Nature,  in  so  far  accepts  Christ. 

10,  11.  Notice  the  rhetorical  climax  in  these 
verses ;  he  was  in  the  world ;  he  came  unto  hi& 
own ;  the  world  knew  him  not ;  his  own  received 
him  not.  The  irorld  is  here  humanity  in  general, 
Jew  and  Gentile,  both  of  whom  united  in  Christ's 
crucifixion ;  the  Jew,  represented  in  the  high- 
priest  who  deliberately  rejected  him  (john  11 :  47-50), 
the  GentUe,  represented  in  Pilate  and  the  soldiers, 
who  simply  did  not  know  him.  His  own  are 
the  Jewish  people,  Jehovah's  peculiar  possession 

(Exod.  19  :  5  ;  Dent.  7:6;  Psalm  135  : 4  ;  Isaiah  31  :  9),  tO  whom 

he  first  came  and  by  whom  he  was  rejected  before 
he  was  preached  to  the  Gentiles  (Acts  is :  46 ;  Rom. 
1  :  16).  It  was  only  the  world  of  men  that  knew 
him  not ;  nature  knew  and  obeyed  him  whenever 
he  commanded  her  obedience,  as  in  the  turning 
of  water  into  wine,  the  stilling  of  the  tempest, 
etc.    The  verbs  in  this  sentence  are  in  the  imper- 


18 


11  He"  came  unto  his  own,  and  his  own  received  him 
not. 

12  But  as  many  °  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he 
power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  p  that 
believe  on  his  name  : 


JOHN.  [Ch.  I. 

13  Which  were  born,i  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of 
the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God. 

14  And  the  Word'  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among 
us,  (and"  we  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only- 
begotten  of  the  Father,)  full '  of  grace  and  truth. 


n  Acts  3:  26;  13  :46....o 


i  :4,  5;  Rom.  8  :  14, 15  ;  1  John  3:1 p  Gnl.  3  :  26 q  James  1  :  18 r  Luke  1  ;  35  :  1  Tim.  3  :  16. 

3  2  Pet.  1  :  n  ;  1  John  1  :  I,  2. ..  .t  Ps.  46  :  2  ;  Col.  2  :  3,  9. 


feet  tense,  and  the  reference  is  to  the  incarnation 
of  Christ  and  his  earthly  life.  Observe  that  the 
Jewish  nation  which  rejected  the  Messiah  is  re- 
jected by  God  (Matt.  8 :  12),  and  that  the  disciples 
of  Christ  are  not  to  know  the  world  which  knew 
not  their  Lord  and  Master  (i  John  2 :  15-17). 

12.  But  as  mauy  as  received  him.  Not 
merely,  as  Alford,  "  recognized  him  as  that  which 
he  was — the  Word  of  God  and  Light  of  men," 
but  received  him  as  the  Word  to  be  implicitly 
obeyed  (ch.  14  :  21 ;  15 :  10, 15),  and  the  Light  in  which 
to  walk  (1  John  1 :  6). — To  them  gave  he  power 
{i'io  valar).  Not  capability,  nor  privilege,  nor  claim, 
but  poiver  and  right ;  the  original  word  combines 
the  two  ideas.  He  confers  the  power  to  become 
the  sons  of  God,  and  confers  the  right  to  claim 
that  privilege.  Ryle  is  certainly  correct  in  say- 
ing that  this  verse  "does  not  mean  that  Christ 
confers  on  those  who  receive  him  a  spiritual  and 
moral  strength,  by  which  they  convert  them- 
selves, change  their  own  hearts,  and  make  them- 
selves God's  children."  He  is  as  certainly  wrong 
in  saying,  with  Calvin  and  the  marginal  reading, 
that  the  original  Greek  word  means  "right  or 
privilege."  The  reader  will  best  get  its  meaning 
by  comparing  John's  use  of  it  in  other  passages, 
in  no  one  of  which  could  it  be  rendered  either 
"  right"  or  "  privilege."  See  ch.  5  :  27 ;  10  :  18  ; 
17  :  2 ;  19  :  10,  11.  Comp.  Matt.  28  :  18,  note. 
The  plain  implication  here  is  that  the  j^ower  to 
become  a  son  of  God  is  not  natural  and  inherent, 
but  acquired,  and  is  the  especial  gift  of  God. 
See  Phil.  2  :  12,  13 ;  Titus  3  :  4,  5,— To  become 
the  sons  of  God.  Sons  and  therefore  (1)  par- 
takers of  the  divine  nature  (Ephes.  4  :  i3 ;  Heb.  12 :  lO  ; 
2  Pet.  1:4);  (2)  entitled  to  and  walking  in  freedom 
as  children,  not  in  bondage  as  servants  (ch.  15 :  15 ; 
Gal.  4  :  1-7) ;  (3)  heirs  of  God  and  joint-heirs  with 
Christ,  bis  only-begotten  Son  (Rom.  8 :  le,  n).  But 
the  full  conception  of  the  meaning  of  this  sonship 
we  cannot  know,  till  in  the  other  world  we  see 
the  Father  as  he  is  (1  John  3 : 1, 2). — Even  to  them 
that  have  faith  in  his  name.  His  name  is 
Jesun,  i.  e.,  Saviour,  given  to  him  because  he 
saves  his  people  from  their  sins  (Matt.  1 :  21).  To 
have  faith  in  that  name  is  to  have  faith  in  him  as 
a  personal  Saviour  from  sin.  Observe,  then,  that 
this  verse  comprises  the  whole  Gospel  in  a  sen- 
tence. It  declares  (1)  the  object  of  the  Gospel : 
that  we  who  are  by  nature  the  children  of  dis- 
obedience and  of  wrath  (Ephes.  2 :  2, 3)  may  become 
the  sons  of  God  ;  (2)  the  source  to  which  we  are 


to  look  for  this  prerogative  of  sonship :  power 
conferred  by  God  ;  (3)  the  means  by  which  we 
are  to  attain  it :  personal  faith  in  a  personal 
Saviour  from  sin.  Observe  too  that  John  fol- 
lows his  description  of  the  rejection  of  Christ, 
not  by  threatening  punishment  to  them,  but  by 
depicting  the  infinite  gain  of  those  that  accept 
Christ. 

13.  Not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the 
flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God. 
That  is,  not  by  inheritance  (Luke  3:8);  nor  by  res- 
olution (Rom.  8 : 5-8) ;  uor  by  human  teaching  (i  Cor. 
3 :  6, 7) ;  but  by  the  direct  personal  influence  and 
contact  of  the  Spirit  of  God  on  the  heart  (tuus 
3 : 6, 6).  Thus,  John  emphasizes  the  declaration 
of  the  preceding  verse,  that  God  gives  the  power  to 
become  the  smis  of  God,  by  declaring  that  Christian 
character  is  not  the  product  of  either  good 
parentage,  a  strong  will,  or  a  good  education,  but 
directly  of  a  divine  recreative  act.  (oai.  6 :  15.) 
The  Greek  student  will  observe  that  the  prepo- 
sition used  is  of  (tx),  not  through  (('<«) ;  the  writer 
is  speaking  of  the  origin  or  source  of  Christian 
character,  not  of  the  instruments  by  which  it  is 
developed.  Good  parentage,  will  power,  and 
education,  are  all  means  for  the  development 
of  divine  sonship ;  the  original  cause,  without 
which  a  true  son  of  God  is  never  produced,  is  the 
creative  act  of  God  himself. 

14.  And  the  Word.  The  self-manifesting 
God,  as  described  in  the  first  verse. — Became 
flesh.  Not aman{uvd^Qwrroc)  nora  tody  (aaiuu), 
but^esA  (oun^).  The  word  is  one  whose  signifi- 
cation would  probably  be  best  rendered  to  the 
English  reader  bj'  the  phrase  human  nature. 
Though  occasionally  used  in  the  N.  T.  of  the  lit- 
eral and  material  flesh  (Acts  2 :  31),  it  almost  always 
indicates  man  in  his  corporeal  or  earthly  nature, 
sometimes  signifying  the  predominance  of  that 
over  the  higher  or  spiritual  nature,  sometimes 
simply  signifying  this  aspect  of  his  nature,  with- 
out any  indication  of  its  corrupt  tendencies. 
Here,  then,  the  declaration  is  that  the  Word  be- 
came human  nature  ;  how  is  not  indicated.  The 
language  gives  no  sanction  to  either  of  the  two 
principal  theories  of  the  incarnation ;  the  first, 
that  Christ  took  on  human  nature  as  something 
superadded  to  the  divine,  so  carrying  through 
life  a  double  nature,  both  divine  and  human ;  the 
second,  that  he  simply  entered  a  human  body 
and  became  subject  to  the  limitations  which  it 
imposed  on  him.     How  the  divine  became  human, 


Ch.  I.] 


JOHN. 


19 


IS  Jolin"  bare  witness  of  him,  and  cried,   saying, 
This  was    he    of  whom    I    spake,    He    that   cometh 


after  me  is  preferred  before  me :   for  he  was  before 
me. 


u  Matt.  3:11,  etc. 


we  must  learn  elsewhere  in  the  N.  T.,  if  the  N.  T. 
reveals  it  at  all ;  but  the  declaration  here  is  ex- 
plicit that  the  divine  Word  became  human. — 
And  tabernacled  among  us.  PitcJied  his  tent 
with  us.  As  God  in  the  wilderness  dwelt  for  a 
time  in  the  transitory  tabernacle,  so  the  Word 
dwelt  in  the  flesh,  which  is  elsewhere  in  the  N.  T. 
compared  to  a  tabernacle  (2  cor.  s :  1, 4;  2  Pet.  1 :  13, 14). 
As  God  dwelt  subsequently  in  the  permanent 
Temple  at  Jerusalem,  so  the  Word  makes  its  per- 
manent abode  in  the  soul  of  the  believer,  which 
is  the  Temple,  not  the  Tabernacle  of  God  (ch.  15 : 
6, 7 ;  2  Cor.  6:16;  Rev.  21 : 3).  That  the  reference  here 
is  to  the  incarnation,  not  to  the  spiritual  presence 
of  Christ  with  the  believer,  is  evident  from  the 
fact  that  the  verb  {iay.i,vo}atr)  is  in  the  historical 
tense.  John  says  he  tabernacled,  not  he  taberna- 
des,  among  us. — And  we  beheld  his  glory, 
the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  from  the 
Father.  We  are  made  sons  of  God  ;  but  Christ 
alone  is  the  only  begotten  Son.  For  the  meaning 
of  this  phrase,  see  Luke  7  :  13 ;  8  :  i3 ;  9  :  38. 
John  uses  it  only  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  Greek 
student  should  observe  the  use  of  the  preposi- 
tion//vjm  (,T«o(i).  It  designates  the  source  from 
which  anything  is  derived,  and  here  indicates 
that  in  a  peculiar  sense  Christ  is  from  the  Father, 
directly  and  immediately  ;  we  are  from  him  only 
through  Christ.  Comp.  ch.  7  :  29.  In  a  peculiar 
sense  the  Apostles  beheld  Christ's  glory  (ch.  2 :  n ; 

Matt.  17  :  1-4;    2  Pet.  1  :  16;    1  John  1  :  l).      But  in  Christ's 

life  and  character,  and  in  their  influence  on  the 
world,  we  are  all  beholders  of  the  true  divine 
glory,  manifested  in  him  (Heb.  i :  3) ;  and  his  earth- 
ly life  is  the  brightness  and  glory  of  heaven  (Rev. 
21  :  23;  5:9,  lo).  The  language,  as  of  the  only  be- 
gotten, distinguishes  the  glory  of  Christ  from 
that  of  all  previous  revealers  of  the  divine  will 
and  nature.  "Since  many  of  the  prophets  too 
were  glorified,  as  Moses,  Elijah,  and  Elisha,  the 
one  encircled  by  the  fiery  chariot,  the  other  taken 
up  by  it ;  and  after  them  Daniel  and  the  three 
children,  and  the  many  others  who  showed  forth 
wonders  ;  and  angels  who  have  appeared  among 
men,  and  partly  disclosed  to  beholders  the  flash- 
ing light  of  their  proper  nature  ;  and  since  not 
angels  only,  but  even  the  cherubim  were  seen  by 
the  prophet  in  great  glory  and  the  seraphim 
also ;  the  Evangelist,  leading  us  away  from  all 
these,  and  removing  our  thoughts  from  created 
things,  and  from  the  brightness  of  our  fellow- 
servants,  sets  us  at  the  very  summit  of  good. 
For,  "not  of  prophets,"  says  he,  "  nor  angel,  nor 
archangel,  nor  of  the  higher  powers,  nor  of  any 
other  created  nature,  if  other  there  be,  but  of  the 


Master  himself,  the  King  himself,  the  true  only 
begotten  Sou  himself,  of  the  very  Lord  of  all,  did 
we  behold  the  (jlory.^^ — {Chrysostom.) — Full  of 
grace  and  truth.  There  is  some  doubt  whether 
this  is  said  of  tlie  glory  beheld,  or  of  the  only 
begotten  So7i  whose  glory  was  beheld.  The  ques- 
tion is  not  very  important ;  the  latter  construction 
is  grammatically  preferable.  Thus  rendered,  the 
clause  "And  we  beheld,  etc.,"  is  parenthetical, 
John's  statement  being :  "  The  Word  tabernacled 
among  us,  full  of  grace  and  truth."  Observe 
(1)  that  the  grace  here  answers  to  the  Life  in 
verse  4,  and  the  truth  to  the  Light  in  verse  9. 
Because  of  his  grace  Christ  is  Life  to  all  who  ac- 
cept him  ;  because  of  his  truth  he  is  Light  to  all 
who  follow  him  ;  (2)  that  the  declaration  here  is 
explained  by,  and  is  possibly  partially  derived 
from  Exodus  33  :  18, 19,  where  Moses  asks  to  see 
God's  glory,  and  is  promised  a  disclosure  of  the 
divine  goodness  ;  in  the  goodness  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus  we  behold  the  divine  glory;  (3)  that  the 
Christian  is  to  be,  like  his  Master,  full  of  grace 
and  truth,  and  that  to  be  at  once  perfectly  truth- 
ful and  also  gracious  is  one  of  the  most  difficult 
practical  problems  of  the  Christian  life  (Rom.  12 : 9). 
It  seems  to  me  clear  that  John  has  in  mind 
throughout  this  verse  the  manifestation  of  the 
glory  of  God,  through  the  Shechinah,  in  the  Tab- 
ernacle, and  subsequently  in  the  Temple  (Exnd.  40 : 

34,  35;    1  Kings  8  :  10;    see  Matt.  17  :  5,  note).      As    the    Shc- 

chinah  made  luminous  and  glorious  these  earthly 
dwelling-places,  so  the  Word,  by  his  indwelling, 
made  glorious  the  flesh. 

15.  John  is  testifying  concerning  him. 
John  the  Baptist  was  long  since  dead  when  these 
words  were  written ;  but  his  testimony  was  not 
dead  ;  it  was  an  ever-living  testimony.  The  verb 
is  therefore  put  in  the  present  tense,  not,  as  in 
our  English  version,  in  the  past. — And  he 
cried,  saying.  It  is  the  echo  of  this  cry  which 
still  resounds  and  witnesses  to  Jesus  Christ.  The 
language  used  implies  a  public  testimony,  and 
one  borne  with  confidence  and  joy.  On  seeing  the 
Chriat  of  whom  he  had  prophesied,  John  the  Bap- 
tist (Ties  out,  "  This  is  he  of  whom  I  spoke."  For 
illustration  of  John's  prophetic  utterances  con- 
cerning the  Messiah,  previous  to  the  baptism  of 
Jesus,  see  Matt.  3  :  11,  12 ;  Mark  1  :  7,  8.— He 
that  cometh  after  me.  Christ  did  not  begin 
his  public  ministrj'  till  the  imprisonment  of  John 
the  Baptist  (Mark  1 :  14).  Thus  as  a  pubhc  teacher 
he  came  after  John  the  Baptist. — Came  forth 
before  me.  Not,  was  before  me  (ylyvouai  has  not 
the  force  of  fi,<"'))  for  then  the  sentence  would  be 
tautological — that  Jesus  was  before  John  is  in  the 


20 


JOHN". 


[Ch.  I. 


i6  And  of  his  fulness '■^  have  all  we  received,  and 
grace  for  grace. 


17  For  the  law  was  given  by  Moses,  but  grace  "  and 
truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ. 


V  ch.  3  :  34 w  Ps.  85  :  10  j  Rom.  5  :  21. 


next  clause  given  as  the  reasoit  for  the  statement 
in  this,  that  he  came  forth  before  him  ;  nor  can 
the  meaning  be  was  ijreferred  before  me,  in  the 
sense  of  esteemed  above  me,  for  the  mere  fact  of 
Christ's  pre-existence  would  be  no  reason  for 
esteeming  him  more  highly  than  John — the  devil 
existed  before  John  the  Baptist ;  nor,  loas  preferred 
before  me,  in  the  sense  of,  was  exalted  in  rank 
above  me,  though  some  excellent  scholars,  e.  g., 
Alford,  Olshausen,  De  VVette,  so  interpret  it; 
but,  as  I  have  rendered  it  above,  came  forth,  or, 
was  set  before  me.  The  reference  is  to  the  previous 
manifestations  of  the  Word,  in  the  partial  reve- 
lations of  God  in  the  O.  T.  All  the  disclosures 
of  the  divine  nature  in  the  O.  T.  were  made 
through  the  Word  or  utterance  of  God,  through 
whom  alone  he  speaks  to  the  human  race.  See 
ver.  i,  note,  and  ch.  S  :  .56-58.  John  then  says 
"He  who  is  coining  after  me  is  the  One  who  has 
already  come  forth  before  me ;  for  he  existed 
before  me."  Christ's  pre-existence  would  not  ex- 
plain the  preference,  either  in  the  divine  love  or 
in  rank,  but  it  does  in  part  explain  precedence  in 
appearance  or  manifestation.  So  Hengstenberg, 
"My  successor  is  my  predecessor." 

10.  And  of  his  fullness  have  we  all  re- 
ceived. The  fullness  is  that  of  the  divine  nature, 
of  which  we  are  made  partakers  through  faith  in 
Christ  (coi.  1:19;  2 ;  9, 10 ;  Ephes.  3 :  19).  The  all  are 
those  who  receive  him  and  thus  become  the  sons 
of  God  (verse  is).  This  and  the  two  following 
verses  are  the  addition  of  the  Evangelist,  not  the 
continuance  of  John  the  Baptist's  discourse  ;  this 
is  evident  both  from  their  style,  which  better 
accords  with  that  of  the  Evangelist,  and  because 
the  fullness  of  Christ's  nature  was  not  received 
by  John  the  Baptist  and  his  disciples,  for  it  was 
not  disclosed  tUl  after  the  Baptist's  death.  Ob- 
serve, (1)  How  inexhaustible  the  fountain.  From 
Christ's  fullness  all  spiritual  life  is  supplied. 
Chrysostom  compares  Christ  to  a  fire  from  which 
ten  thousand  lamps  are  kindled,  but  which  burns 
as  brightly  thereafter  as  before.  "The  sea  is 
diminished  if  you  take  a  drop  from  it,  though 
the  diminution  be  imperceptible ;  but  how  much 
soever  a  man  draw  from  the  divine  Fountain,  it 
continues  undiminished."  (3)  How  free  the  sup- 
ply ;  we  have  all  received.  "  None  went  empty 
away." — (Meyer.)  (3)  The  nature  of  Christian 
experience.  It  is  not  a  mere  trust  in  a  crucified 
Saviour  for  pardon  for  the  past ;  it  is  also  a  per- 
sonal and  continuous  receiving  of  divine  life  from 
the  fullness  of  a  living  Saviour. — And  grace  for 
grace.  Of  this  expression  there  are  two  inter- 
pretations.   The  ancient  expositors  understood 


it  to  mean.  For  the  lesser  grace  of  the  O.  T.  we 
have  received  the  greater  grace  of  the  N.  T. 
So  Chrysostom:  "There  was  a  righteousness, 
and  there  is  a  righteousness  (Rom.  i  :  17) ;  there 
was  a  glory  and  there  is  a  glory  (2  Cor.  3 :  11) ; 
there  was  a  law  and  there  is  a  law  (Rom.  s-.i); 
there  was  a  service  and  there  is  a  service  (Rom. 
9 : 4;  12 :  ii) ;  there  was  a  covenant  and  there  is  a. 
covenant  (jcr.  31 :  31, 32) ;  there  was  a  sanctification 
and  there  is  a  sanctification ;  there  was  a  baptism 
and  there  is  a  baptism  ;  there  was  a  sacrifice  and 
there  is  a  sacrifice  ;  there  was  a  temple  and  there 
is  a  temple  ;  there  was  a  circumcision  and  there  is- 
a  circumcision ;  and  so  too  there  was  a  grace  and 
there  is  a  grace."  The  modern  commentators, 
ALford,  Meyer,  Lange,  etc.,  understand  it  to  mean, 
"For  each  new  accessory  of  grace  we  receive  a 
still  larger  gift.  Each  grace,  though,  when  givea 
large  enough,  is,  as  it  were,  overwhelmed  by  the 
accumulation  and  fullness  of  that  which  follows." 
— (Bengel.)  "Grace  for  grace,  grace  in  the  ^ilace 
of  that  which  preceded — therefore  grace  uninter- 
rupted, unceasingly  renewed."  —  {Winer.)  The 
spiritual  signification  of  the  passage  is  substan- 
tially the  same  on  either  interpretation.  We  have 
nothing  to  give  in  exchange  for  the  divine  grace ; 
our  only  virtue  is  to  receive.  It  is  given  to  us  in 
exchange  for  the  grace  already  imparted.  "Unto 
everyone  that  hath  shall  be  given;"  but  what 
he  already  hath  is  God's  gift,  which  bestows 
both  the  good  and  the  purchase  money,  each 
new  gift  superseding  the  old,  as  the  N.  T.  gift  of 
grace  and  truth  through  Jesus  Christ  superseded 
the  lesser  gift  of  law  through  Moses.  With  this 
accords  the  teaching  of  both  O.  T.  and  N.  T. 
See,  for  example,  Deut.  7:7;  Ps.  6:4;  23  : 3 ; 
25  :  7 ;  31  :  16 ;  79  :  9 ;  115  :  1 ;  Isaiah  55  :  1 ; 
Ephes.  2:4;  1  John  4  :  8,  10. 

17.  For  the  law  was  given  by  3Io$es. 
Through  (diu)  Moses  as  the  instrument  or  media- 
tor of  the  old  covenant.  —  Grace  and  truth 
came  by  Jesus  Christ.  Through  (dtu)  J esuB- 
Christ  as  the  mediator  of  the  new  covenant.  The 
grace  is  the  favor  of  God  (see  below),  the  truth  is 
the  clear  revelation  of  the  divine  character  and 
will,  seen  only  dimly  under  the  old  covenant. 
(2  Cor.  3 :  13, 14.)  Obscrvc  the  contrast  between  Christ 
and  Moses  (comp.  Heb.  3 : 5, 6) ;  and  between  the  gifts 
brought  by  the  two.  The  law  was  given,  a  com- 
pleted thing,  once  for  all ;  grace  and  truth  came 
and  continually  come,  grace  for  grace,  out  of  the 
inexhaustible  fullness  of  the  giver. 

On  THE  MEANING  OF  THE  WORD  "GRACE."     The 

word  here  translated  .(/race  (/uqi:)  is  also  various- 
ly translated  in  the  N.  T.  acceptable,  benefit,  favory 


Ch.  I.] 


JOHN. 


21 


18  No  man  hath  seen  God  »  at  anytime;  they  only  1  sent  priests  and  Levites  from  Jerusalem  to  ask  him, 


begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he 
hatli  declared  him. 
19  And  this^  is  the  record  of  John,  when  the  Jews 


Who  art  thou  ? 

20  And  he  confessed,  and  denied  not ;  but  coulessed, 
I  am  not  the  Christ. 


X  Ex.  33  :  20  ;  1  Tim.  6  :  16 y  1  Johu  4  : ! 


Luke  3  :  15,  etc. 


gift.,  joy,  liberality,  pleasure,  tliankx,  and  tliank- 
worthy.  This  fact  will  of  itself  sufficiently  indi- 
cate that  the  word  possesses  various  shades  of 
meaning.  They  are  all,  however,  etymologically 
derived  from  the  same  root  idea.  The  noun  is 
derived  from  a  verb  meaning  to  rejoice,  and  pri- 
marily signifies  that  which  gives  joy  to  another. 
With  the  Greeks,  beauty  was  one  of  the  chief 
joys  ;  hence  the  first  meaning  of  the  word — grace 
of  external  form,  manner,  or  language,  a  mean- 
ing which  it  but  rarely  bears  in  the  N.  T.  (see  Luke 
4 :  22  J  Col.  4 : 6).  Thcucc  it  derived  a  deeper  mean- 
ing, viz.,  beauty  in  character,  and  this,  according 
to  the  N.  T.  teaching,  is  good-will,  the  disposi- 
tion to  do  a  kindness  to  another,  to  make  another 
rejoice  ;  hence  the  word  is  used  to  signify  that 
quality  in  God  which  leads  him  to  confer  freely 
happiness  on  men,  either  on  special  individuals 
(Luke  2: 40;  1  Cor.  3 :  lo),  or  ou  the  wliolc  liumau  race 
(Rom. 3 :  24;  Ephes.  1:6;  Tit.  2 :  ii).  Thence  it  was  em- 
ployed to  designate  the  kindness  actually  flowing 
from  and  conferred  by  this  disposition,  hence  an 
alms,  and  in  the  N.  T.  the  spiritual  gifts  con- 
ferred by  the  divine  love  on  the  soul  (i  Cor.  le :  3 ; 

<i  Cor.  8  :  4  ;  1  Cor.  15  :  10  ;  2  Cor.  6  :  1 ;  2  Pet.  3  :  is)  ;   in  which 

sense  it  is  employed  in  the  apostolic  benediction 

(l  Cor.  1  :  3  ;    2  Cor.  1:2;   Gal.  1  :  3,  etc.).        Finally    it    WaS 

used  to  designate  the  feeling  awakened  by  favors 
sho\vn,  the  reflection  in  the  human  heart  of  the 
divine  grace  imparted,  and  hence  gratitude  and 
even  its  expression  in  thanks  (Luke  6 :  32-34 ;  17 : 9 ; 
I  Tim.  1 :  12 ;  2  Tim.  1 :  s).  Underlying  its  meaning  in 
all  these  uses  is  the  radical  idea  that  the  gift  is 
conferred  freely  and  finds  its  only  motive  in  the 
bounty  and  love  of  the  giver,  an  idea  which  finds 
expression  in  the  Latin  word  gratis  (for  nothing), 
DOW  thoroughly  Anglicized,  a  word  which  comes 
from  the  same  root  as  grace  {gratia).  By  the 
doctrine  of  grace,  then,  as  it  is  variously  expound- 
ed in  the  N.  T.,  is  meant  that  our  own  spiritual 
life  is  the  free  gift  of  God,  bestowed  on  us  with- 
out merit  or  desert  on  our  part,  purely  from  the 
love  and  good-will  of  God.  Our  graces  are  God's 
free  gifts.  John  here  marks  the  contrast  between 
the  law  which  requires  obedience  of  man,  and 
grace  and  truth  which  confers  spiritual  power  on 
man.  The  one  says,  Do  this  and  live ;  the  other 
says.  Live,  so  that  you  can  do  this  (Rom  %  -.  3). 
Nowhere  in  the  N.  T.  is  the  doctrine  of  grace 
more  clearly  set  forth  than  in  these  IGth  and  17th 
verses,  Avhich  may  be  paraphrased  thus :  From 
the  divine  fullness  in  Jesus  Christ  we  have  all 
received  ;  the  only  condition  which  God  attaches 
to  the  free  impartation  of  his  spiritual  gifts  is 


that  we  should  have  received  willingly  those 
already  proffered  to  us  ;  by  Moses  it  was  revealed 
to  us  what  God  would  have  us  do  and  be  ;  by 
Christ  it  is  clearly  disclosed  to  us  what  God  is, 
and  there  is  freely  imparted  to  us  power  to  be- 
come, like  him,  sons  of  (iod. 

18.  No  one  hath  seen  God  at  any  time. 
Not  merely  no  man  ;  no  one — man,  angel,  arch- 
angel. The  phrase  here,  i,een  God,  is  equivalent 
to  the  phrase  knowing  God  jxrfectly,  in  Matt. 
11  :  27  (see  note  there).  We  kuow  him  but  ill  part, 
shall  see  him  only  when  we  awake  in  his  likeness 
(Ps.  17 :  15) ;  Christ  sees  him  because  he  is  one  with 
him. — The  only  begotten  Son.  Some  manu- 
scripts have  here,  The  only  begotten  God,  and  this 
reading  is  adopted  by  Tregelles,  but  rejected  by 
Alford,  Meyer,  and  Tischendorf.  For  examina- 
tion of  the  authorities  on  both  sides,  see  Alford 
(sixth  edition)  and  Lange,  critical  note  by  Dr. 
SchafE.  The  external  authorities  are  not  conclu- 
sive ;  internal  authority  strongly  favors  the  ordi- 
nary reading.  The  only  begotten  God  is  a  phrase 
occurring  nowhere  else  in  the  N.  T.,  and  is  un- 
natural If  not  unmeaning.  The  change  of  a  sin- 
gle letter  in  the  early  copies  would  account  for 
the  corruption  of  the  text  ('^  to  &). — Which 
is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father.  A  metaphor- 
ical expression,  indicating  the  closeness  of  inti- 
macy, and  drawn  more  probably  from  the  relation 
of  a  chUd  with  its  parents,  than  from  the  not  in- 
frequent reclining  of  one  on  the  bosom  of  his 
friend,  at  meal-time  (John  13 :  25). — He  hath  de- 
clared him.  Comp.  ch.  6  :  40  ;  14  :  6,  9,  10  ; 
1  Tim.  3  :  1(5 ;  Heb.  1  :  3.  These  and  other  kin- 
dred passages  indicate  clearly  how  Christ  declares 
the  Father,  viz.,  not  merely  by  what  he  teaches 
concerning  the  divine  nature,  but  yet  more  by  his 
personal  manifestation  of  the  divine  nature  in  his 
own  life  and  character.  This  verse  thus  inter- 
prets the  word  t/mth  in  the  preceding  verse,  as 
the  word  grace  has  already  been  interpreted  by 
verses  11  and  13.  Christ  is  the  trrith  of  God, 
because  he  reveals  the  divine  nature  ;  he  is  the 
grace  of  God  because  he  imparts  the  divine  nature 
to  such  as  trust  in  him. 

Note  on  the  Incaenation.  A  correct  appre- 
hension of  the  character  and  place  in  history  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  essential  to  a  correct  apprehension 
of  Christianity.  Our  conception  of  the  system 
will  depend  upon  our  conception  of  the  Founder. 
The  other  Evangelists  give  simply  the  story  of 
his  life,  leaving  the  readers  to  draw  their  own 
deductions  respecting  him.  John,  writing  at  a 
later  date,  and  in  a  more  philosophical  atmos- 


23 


phere,  begins  his  Gospel  with  a  characterization 
of  the  One  the  story  of  whose  earthly  Hfe  he  is 
about  to  narrate.  It  is  evident  on  even  a  cursory 
excminatiou  of  this  preface  that  John  believed 
and  intended  to  teach,  (1)  That  Christ  existed 
prior  to  his  earthly  birth.  He  was  the  Light  that 
lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world  ; 
was  before  John  the  Baptist,  whom  in  his  earthly 
history  and  mission  he  succeeded ;  and  he  was 
in  the  beginning  with  God  (vers.  1,4, 15).  (2)  That 
he  possessed  a  superhuman  character.  He  is 
carefully  distinguished  from  and  placed  above 
John  the  Baptist,  the  last  of  the  prophets  and 
more  than  a  prophet  (Matt,  ii :  9),  and  from  Moses 
the  lawgiver  and  poUtically  the  founder  of  the 
Jewish  nation ;  and  he  is  emphatically  declared 
not  only  to  have  been  with  God  in  the  beginning, 
but  to  have  partaken  of  the  divine  nature  (vers.  1, 
6-8,  n).  (3)  This  superhuman  character  is  further 
illustrated  by  v/hat  is  declared  of  his  oflBce  or 
work.  He  is  the  Creator,  the  Light  and  Life  of 
men,  the  regenerating  power  through  whom  men 
are  brought  into  divine  sonship,  the  daily  support 
of  the  spiritual  life  of  the  children  of  God,  the 
disclosure  of  the  divine  nature  to  men  (vers.  3,4, 12, 
13, 16, 18).  (4)  This  truth  is  incidentally,  but  all 
the  more  effectively,  enforced  by  John's  peculiar 
language  in  describing  Christ's  earthly  state  :  he 
*' tabernacled  among  us  and  we  beheld  his  glory, 
the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  from  the  Father  " 
(ver.  14).  (5)  Finally,  it  is  illustrated  in  the  various 
titles  conferred  upon  him  throughout  this  chap- 
ter, which  are  ten  in  number :  the  Word  ;  the 
Light ;  the  Life  ;  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father ; 
Jesus  Christ,  i.e.,  the  Saviour,  the  Messiah;  the 
only  begotten  Son ;  the  Lamb  of  God ;  the  Son  of 
God;  Master;  the  Son  of  Man.  It  is  not  the 
province  of  the  commentator  to  construct  a  sys- 
tematic theology.  But  it  is  certain  that  these 
elements  must  enter  into  any  conception  of  Jesus 
Christ  which  is  founded  on  and  accords  with  the 
N.  T.  There  is  probably  no  other  single  passage 
of  equal  length  in  the  N.  T.  which  contains  so 
much  respecting  the  character  and  office  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  this  preface  to  John's  Gospel ;  with  it, 
however,  should  be  examined  Paul's  Christology 
(e.  g.,  Phil.  2 : 5-11),  and  that  of  the  unknown  author 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (Heb.,  chaps.  1, 2). 

Ch.  1  :  10-51.  INTRODUCTION  OF  CHRIST  TO  THE 
WORLD.  By  John  the  Baptist  (vers.  19-37);  by 
Hemselp  (vers.  .38-61).  Christ  the  sin-bearer  of 
THE  WORLD — The  power  of  Christ  ;  the  abiding  of 
God's  Spirit  on  him. — Christ  oitr  pattern  in  fish- 
ing FOR  men.— The  value  of  personal  and  private 
WORK.  —  The  power  of  prejudice  in  good  men. — 
The  best  answer  to  skepticism,  "Come  and  see." 
— Christ  reveals  himself  when  he  reveals  us  to 
ourselves.— Christ's  first  coMrNo  a  prophecy  and 
foretaste  of  his  second  coming. 

The  historical  portion  of  the  Fourth  Gospel 


JOHN.  [Ch.  L 

begins  here.  The  interview  between  the  deputa- 
tion from  the  Sanhedrim  and  John  the  Baptist 
here  described  probably  took  place  after  the 
baptism  of  Jesus,  and  during  the  temptation,  of 
which  latter  event  this  Gospel  makes  no  mention. 
With  the  account  of  the  Baptist's  ministry  given 
here  the  reader  should  compare  Matt.,  chap.  3, 
and  Luke,  chap,  3. 

19,  20.  And  this  is  the  Avitness  of  John. 
The  writer  goes  back  and  gives  a  detailed  history 
of  John's  first  explicit  testimony  to  the  Messiah, 
connecting  it  with  his  previous  reference  to  that 
testimony  in  verse  15. — When  the  Jews  sent 
priests  and  Levites.  In  John's  Gospel,  the 
term  Jews  generally  signifies,  not  the  residents  of 
Palestine,  but  those  of  Judea,  and  sometimes  the 
official  heads  of  the  people.  This  appears  to  be 
the  meaning  here.  It  is  clear  from  verse  22  that 
this  was  an  official  deputation,  probably  sent  by 
the  Sanhedrim.  The  Baptist's  preaching  had 
produced  a  profound  sensation  throughout  that 
part  of  Palestine ;  great  crowds  flocked  to  his 
ministry ;  he  was  universally  regarded  as  a 
prophet,  and  by  some  as  perhaps  the  Messiah ; 
some  of  the  Pharisees  themselves  came  to  his 
baptism,  though  his  severe  denunciation  of  their 
formalism,  and  their  o\vn  opposition  to  such  a 
personal  reform  as  his  preaching  demanded,  made 
them,  as  a  class,  bitterly  opposed  to  him  (Matt.  3 : 
5, 7 ;  21 :  25, 26 ;  Luke  3 :  15).  It  was  therefore  natural 
and  fit  that  the  Sanhedrim  should  send  to  inquire 
officially  respecting  his  ministry.  There  is  noth- 
ing to  indicate  whether  this  inquiry  was  conduct- 
ed in  a  hostile  spirit  or  otherwise. — Who  art 
thou  ?  Observe,  throughout  this  interview,  the 
difference  in  the  spirit  of  the  inquirers  and  of 
John.  They  persist  in  demanding  to  know  who 
he  is ;  he  replies  only  by  pointing  out  what  he 
does.  "  They  ever  ask  about  his  person  ;  he  ever 
refers  them  to  his  office.  He  is  no  one — a  voice 
merely ;  it  is  the  work  of  God,  the  testimony  to 
Christ,  which  is  eveiything.  So  the  formalist 
ever  in  the  church  asks,  Who  is  he  ?  while  the 
witness  for  Christ  only  exalts,  only  cares  for 
Christ's  work." — (Alford.) — And  he  publicly 
acknowledged,  and  denied  not.  We  know 
from  Luke  3  :  15  that  some  thought  he  might  be 
the  Messiah  ;  and  later,  a  Gnostic  sect  maintained 
that  he  was  the  Messiah.  This  testimony,  am- 
plifying the  brief  reference  to  it  in  verses  7,  8,  is 
probably  inserted  in  part  to  refute  this  error. 

21.  Art  thou  Elijah?  And  he  saith,  I 
am  not.  Mai.  4  :  5  declares  that  Elijah  should 
precede  the  Messiah.  John  the  Baptist's  char- 
acter, and  even  his  appearance  (comp.  Matt.  3 : 4  with 
2  Kings  1 :  s),  resembled  that  of  Elijah.  Christ  dis- 
tinctly declares  that  John  the  Baptist  is  the  Elijah 
foretold  by  the  prophet  and  expected  by  the 

people    (Matt.  17  :  12,  13;   comp.  Luke  1  :  17).      Here    Johu 

says  he  is  not.    The  true  explanation  is,  not  that 


Ch.  L] 


JOHN. 


23 


21  Anil  they  asked  him,  What  then  ?  Art  thou  Elias  ? 
And  he  saith,  I  am  not.  An  tliou  that  prophet?  And 
he  answered,  No. 

22  Then  said  they  unto  him,  Who  art  thou  ?  that  we 
may  give  an  answer  to  them  tiiat  sent  us.  What  Say- 
est  thou  of  thyself? 

23  He"  saicl,  I  am  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wil- 
derness, Make  straight  the  way  ot  the  Lord,  as  said  the 
prophet  ^  Esaias. 

24  And  they  which  were  sent  were  of  the  Phari- 
sees. 

25  And  they  asked  him,  and  said  unto  him,  Why 


baptizeth  thou  then,  if  thou  be  not  that  Christ,  nor 

Ellas,  neither  that  prophet  ? 

26  John  answered  them,  saying,  I  baptize  with  water : 
but  there  standeth  one  "^  among  you,  whom  ye  know 
not; 

27  He  it  is,  who  coming  after  me  is  preferred  before 
me,  whose  shoe's  latchet  I  am  not  worthy  to  unloose. 

28  These  things  were  done  in  Bethabara''  beyond 
Jordan,  where  Jolm  was  baptizing. 

29  The  next  day  John  seeth  Jesus  coming  unto  him, 
and  saith.  Behold  the  Lamb  "=  of  God,  which  taketh  ' 
away  the  sin  of  the  world. 


a  ch.3:  2S:  Mall.  3  :  3;  Mark  1:3;  Luke  3:4 b  Isa.  40  :  3 c  Mai.  3:1 d  Judges?  :  24 e  Ex.12  :  3;  Isa.  53  :  7,  II  : 

f  Acts  13  :  39  i  1  Pet.  2  :  24  ;  Rev.  1  :  5. 


the  people  were  expecting  a  literal  resurrection 
of  Elijah  from  the  dead,  and  John  denied  that  he 
fulfilled  that  expectation,  but  that,  like  many 
another  great  but  humble  messenger  of  God,  he 
did  not  comprehend  his  own  character  and  mis- 
sion and  relation  to  ancient  prophecy.  He  was 
more  than  he  knew. — Art  thou  that  prophet? 
From  Dent.,  8  :  15  the  Jews  expected  a  prophet 
to  precede  the  Messiah  (John  6 :  u ;  7 :  4o).  Not  till 
later  was  this  prophecy  correctly  interpreted  by 
the  Apostles  as  referring  to  Christ  himself  (Acts 

3  :  22  ;  7  :  3?). 

22,  23.  See  Matt.  3  :  3  and  Mark  1  :  3,  and 
notes.  It  is  evident  that  the  characterization  of 
John  the  Baptist  there  and  the  application  to  him 
of  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  W  :  3  was  derived  from 
John  himself. 

24-27.  And  they  which  were  sent  were 
of  the  Pharisees.  The  Pharisees  were  scrupu- 
lous ceremonialists,  and  ablutions  were  an  impor- 
tant part  of  their  ceremonial.  See  Matt.  1.5  : 1-7 ; 
Mark  7  :  2-.5,  notes.  To  them  John's  employ- 
ment of  baptism  appeared,  irregular  and  unau- 
thorized if  he  were  not  invested  with  some  special 
divine  authority. — John  answered  them.  This 
answer  is  only  indirectly  responsive  to  their  in- 
terrogatory. He  passes  at  once  from  his  own 
authority,  which  he  disdains  to  defend,  to  testify 
to  the  Messiah,   whose  forerunner  he  is.     The 

synoptical  Evangelists  (Matt.  3  :  ll,  12,  note  ;  Mark  1 :  7, 8  ; 

Luke  3: 16, 17)  report  more  fully  John's  character- 
ization of  his  own  baptism  and  its  contrast  with  | 
that  which  the  Messiah  would  inaugurate ;  one  1 
in  water,  the  other  in  fire  and  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
one  a  symbol,  the  other  the  thing  symbolized ; 
one  a  prophecy,  the  other  its  fulfillment. — There 
standeth  one  among  you  Avhom  ye  know 
not.  That  is,  do  not  recognize  as  what  he  really 
is,  the  Messiah.  It  is  not  necessarily  implied 
that  Jesus  Christ  was  present  at  this  interview, 
and  verse  29  implies  that  he  was  not.  The  lan- 
guage simply  points  to  one  apparently  of  the 
common  people  and  unknown. — Who  cometh 
after  me,  whose  shoe-latchet  I  am  unwor- 
thy to  unloose.  This  is  the  true  reading ;  the 
words  in  preferred  before  me  have  been  added  by 
some  copyist  from  verse  15.    On  the  significance 


of  the  expression,  see  notes  on  Matt.  3  :  11  and 
Luke  3  : 1(3.  The  latchet  of  the  shoe  is  the  leather 
thong  with  which  the  sandal  was  bound  on  to 
the  foot  or  the  shoe  was  laced.  For  illustration, 
see  Mark  G  :  7-13,  Vol.  1,  p.  3G3. 

28.  Bethabara.  The  best  reading  here  is 
Bethany ;  the  common  reading,  Bethabara,  is 
derived  from  Origen,  who  found  such  a  place 
about  opposite  Jericho.  The  Bethany  intended 
is  certainly  not  the  well-known  town  of  that 
name  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
for  this  one  was  beyond  Jordan.  The  site  is  un- 
known ;  it  has  been  fixed  by  Origen  as  far  south 
as  Jericho ;  by  Stanley,  30  miles  north  of  Jericho, 
near  Succoth  ;  by  Lightfoot,  north  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee.  We  can  only  say  that  it  was  probably 
at  one  of  the  fords  of  the  Jordan,  in  the  great 
eastern  line  of  travel,  and  certainly  at  some  point 
between  the  sea  of  Galilee  and  the  neighborhood 
of  Jericho.  There  are  two  traditional  sites,  one 
Greek,  the  other  Latin,  and  both  historically 
worthless. 

29.  The  next  day.  Not  merely,  some  fol- 
lowing day,  for  the  original  Greek  word  {tTiuvQiov) 
never  has  this  meaning  in  the  N.  T.  It  has  been 
so  rendered  by  some  commentators  here,  in  order 
to  introduce  the  Temptation  between  the  testi- 
mony of  the  Baptist  to  the  delegation  from  Jeru- 
salem and  his  testimony  here  uttered  to  his  own 
disciples. — He  seeth  Jesns.  The  word  John 
has  been  inserted  by  some  copyists  to  make  the 
meaning  clearer. — Coming  toward  him.  Not, 
as  in  our  English  version,  unto  him.  The  prep- 
osition employed  (/ryoc)  signifies  simply  direction. 
Why  he  was  coming  toward  him  is  not  a  matter 
for  profitable  conjecture.  Not,  as  some  suppose, 
for  baptism,  for  the  temptation  followed  the 
baptism,  and  the  order  of  events  in  John's  narra- 
tive follow  each  other  so  closely  up  to  and  after 
the  marriage  at  Cana  (vers.  35, 43;  ch.2:  1),  that  no 
time  is  afforded  for  the  temptation,  which  was 
forty  days  in  duration,  and  which  must  have  oc- 
curred prior  to  the  interview  between  the  Baptist 
and  the  Jewish  delegation. — And  said.  Pub- 
licly, probably  to  his  own  disciples,  perhaps  to 
the  multitude.  This  first  preaching  of  Christ  ■ 
produced  no  observable  effect.    It  was  not  till 


M 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  I. 


30  This  is  he  of  whom  I  said,  After  me  cometh  a 
man  which  is  preferred  before  me  :  for  he  was  before 
me. 


31  And  I  knew  him  not :  but  that  he  should  be  made 
manifest  to  Israel,  therefore  am  I  come  baptizing  with 

water. 


John  repeated  it  on  the  following  day  (ver.  37)  that 
any  of  his  auditors  followed  Jesus. — Behold 
the  Lamb  of  God.  Not  a  lamb  of  God,  The 
meaning  cannot  therefore  be,  Behold  a  pure  and 
innocent  man ;  an  interpretation  which  would 
probably  never  have  been  conceived,  but  for  the 
purpose  of  escaping  the  doctrine  of  atonement 
for  sin,  which  can  be  escaped  only  by  rejecting 
both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments  in  their 
entirety. — Which  taketh  away.  This  exactly 
represents  the  significance  of  the  original  verb 
(«('o(o),  which  means,  not  bears,  or  suffers,  or 
releases  from  the  penalty  of,  but  takes  aivay.  For 
its  non-metaphorical  use,  see  Matt.  13  :  13,  shall 
be  taken  away ;  21  :  21,  be  removed ;  Luke  6  :  30, 
that  taketh  away  thy  goods ;  John  11  :  39,  take 
away  the  stone ;  11  :  48,  the  Romans  shall  take 
away  both  our  place,  etc.  It  thus  corresponds 
almost  exactly  with  the  word  {u.fn>]yt)  ordinarily 
translated  forgive.  See  Matt.  6  :  12,  note.  Ob- 
sei-ve  that  the  verb  is  in  the  present  tense,  is 
taking  away.  The  sacrifice  has  been  offered 
once  for  all ;  but  its  effect  is  a  continuous  one. 
Christ  is  ever  engaged  in  lifting  up  and  taking 
aM'ay  the  sin  of  the  world. — The  sin  of  the 
world.  Not  sins  from  the  world,  which  would 
be  a  very  different  matter.  The  sin  is  represented 
iis  one  burden,  which  Christ  as  a  wJwle  lifts  up  and 
carries  away.  His  redemption  is  not  a  limited 
redemption  ;  it  provides  a  finished  salvation  for 
the  entire  human  race.     See  ch.  16  :  22,  note. 

Very  unnecessary  difficulty  has  been  made 
respecting  the  interpretation  of  the  Baptist's 
simple  metaphor  here.  The  lamb  was  through- 
out the  O.  T.  times  commonly  used  for  sacrifice 
as  a  sin-offering  (Lev.  4 :  32) ;  in  cleansing  the  leper 
(Lev.  14  :  lo) ;  at  the  morning  and  evening  sacrifice 
(Exod.  29 :  38) ;  at  all  the  great  feasts  (xumb.  as :  ii ; 
29:2,13,37;  Lev.  23:19);  aud  iu  large  numbcrs  on 

special  occasions  (l  Chron.  29  :  21  ;  2  Chron.  29  :  32 ;  36  :  7). 

The  sacrifice  of  the  paschal  lamb  at  the  Passover 
connected  the  lamb  as  a  sacrifice  with  the  great- 
est feast  day  of  the  nation,  and  with  the  national 
redemption  from  bondage  and  deliverance  from 
death  (Exod.  12 :  21-27).  The  ceremony  mth  the 
scape-goat  on  the  day  of  atonement,  the  only 
fast-day  in  the  Jewish  calendar,  interpreted 
clearly,  and  by  an  annual  symbol,  the  meaning 
of  these  sacrifices.  On  that  day  two  kids  of 
goats  were  chosen,  closely  resembling  each 
other ;  one  was  slain  as  a  sin-offering ;  over  the 
other  the  high-priest  confessed  the  sins  of  the 
people,  "  putting  them  on  the  head  of  the  goat," 
who  was  then  led  away  into  the  wilderness,  "  to 
bear  upon  him  all  their  iniquities  unto  a  land  not 
inhabited"  (Lev.  le :  5-10, 20-22).     Isaiah,   with  un- 


mistakable reference  to  these  typical  sacrifices, 
declared  that  the  Messiah  should  bear  the  sins 
and  sorrows  of  the  world  as  a  lamb  slaughtered 
(Isaiah  53 :  1-7) ;  and  the  Baptist,  speaking  to  a 
people  whose  national  education  had  led  them 
to  regard  the  lamb  as  the  type  of  sacrifice, 
through  the  shedding  of  whose  blood  there  was 
a  redemption,  a  carrying  away  of  sins,  points  to 
Jesus  with  the  declaration.  Behold  the  Lamb 
of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world, 
that  is,  the  true  Sin-bearer,  of  whom  all  that 
went  before  were  but  types  and  prophecies. 
How  he  was  to  take  away  this  load  of  sin  the 
Baptist  does  not  say,  and  probably  did  not 
know.  That  he  did  not  realize  that  Christ  was 
to  be  a  true  sacrifice  for  sin  is  indicated  by  his 
subsequent  perplexity  and  message  to  Jesus 
(Matt.  11 : 2-6,  note).  Obscrve  the  analogy  and  the 
contrast  between  the  O.  T.  and  the  N.  T.  Under 
the  O.  T.  there  were  provided  by  the  sinner 
lambs,  whose  sacrifice  took  sin  away  from  the 
individual  or  the  nation,  but  for  the  time  only, 
and  therefore  the  sacrifice  needed  to  be  contin- 
ually repeated  ;  under  the  N.  T.  one  Lamb  is 
provided,  the  Lamb  of  God,  i.  e.,  proceeding 
from  and  2^^'(»^'^<i^<^  ^V  God,  as  intimated  by 
Abraham  to  Isaac  (Gen.  22 :  s),  whose  sacrifice 
once  for  all  (Heb.  10 :  10-12)  takes  away  the  sin  of 
the  whole  world  (1  John  2 : 2),  and  therefore  never 
needs  to  be  repeated.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that 
the  word  lamb  is  never  used  in  the  N.  T.  except 
in  reference  to  Jesus  Christ  (John  1  :  29,  36 ;  Acts 

8  :  32  ;    1  Peter    1  :  19  ;    Rev.  5:6,   8,    12,   etc.).        The    WOrd 

lambs  in  the  plural  form  occurs  twice,  but  both 
times  refer  to  the  disciples  of  Christ  (Luke  lo :  3 ; 

John  21  :  15). 

30,  31.  After  me  cometh,  etc.  See  on 
verse  15. — But  that  he  should  be  made 
manifest   to  Israel  therefore  am  I  come, 

etc.  The  object  of  the  Baptist's  ministry  Avas 
not  then  merely  to  preach  repentance,  but  to 
preach  repentance  as  a  preparation  for  the  com- 
ing of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  incarnation  of 
the  King.  And  with  this  agrees  his  own  defini- 
tion of  his  mission  (verse  23)  and  the  other  Evan- 
gelists' epitome  of  his  ministry  (Matt.  3 : 2).  The 
true  office  of  the  minister  is  always  that  Christ 
may  be  made  manifest. 

32-34.  And  John  witnessed.  Evidently 
the  Evangelist  here  speaks  of  his  witness  at 
some  period  subsequent  to  the  baptism,  and 
therefore  subsequent  to  the  temptation  which 
immediately  succeeded  the  baptism.— I  saw 
the  Spirit  descending  from  heaven  like 
a  dove.  That  is,  in  the  form  of  a  dove.  The 
vision  was  seen  only  by  Jesus  and  John.     On  it 


€n.  L] 


JOHN. 


25 


32  And  John  bare  record,  saying,  I  saw  the  Spirit 
descending  from  heaven  like  a  dove,  and  it  abode 
upon  him. 

33  And  I  knew  him  not :  but  he  that  sent  me  to 
baptize  with  water,  the  same  said  unto  me,  Upon 
whom  thou  shalt  see  the  Spirit  descending,  and  re- 
maining b  on  him,  the  same  is  he  which  baptizeth'' 
with  the  Holy  Ghost. 

34  And  I  saw,  and  bare  record  that  this  is  the  Son  of 
God. 


35  Again  the  next  day  after  John  stood,  and  two  of 
his  disciples : 

36  And  looking  upon  Jesus  as  he  walkelh,  he  saith, 
Behold  the  Lamb  ot  God  ! 

37  And  the  two  disciples  heard  him  speak,  and  they 
followed  Jesus. 

38  Then  Jesus  turned,  and  saw  them  following,  and 
saith  unto  them.  What  seek  ye  ?  They  said  unto  him. 
Rabbi,  (which  is  to  say  being  interpreted.  Master,) 
where  dwellest  thou  ? 


g  chap.  3  :  34  ....  h  Acts  1:5;  S  :  4. 


see  Matt.  3  :  16,  note.— And  it  abode   upon 

him.  The  Spirit  of  God,  not  the  dove,  abode. 
That  John  in  some  way  recognized  the  abiding 
as  a  part  of  the  sign  of  Christ's  Messiahship,  is 
evident  from  the  next  verse  ;  how  he  recognized 
it  is  not  indicated. — I  also  knew  him  not. 
He  connects  himself  with  the  people  who  knew 
him  not  (verse  26).  I,  as  well  as  you,  knew  him 
not,  till  this  sign  was  vouchsafed  me.  Why 
then  did  he  at  first  object  to  baptizing  Jesus,  if  he 
did  not  recognize  in  him  the  Christ  (Matt.  3 :  u). 
He  was  second  cousin  of  Jesus ;  knew  him, 
probably,  as  a  pure  and  holy  man  ;  perhaps  knew 
the  facts  respecting  Jesus'  birth,  which  were 
certainly  known  to  John's  mother ;  may  even 
have  susixded  that  he  was  the  promised  Mes- 
siah ;  and  at  all  events  may  have  believed  that 
he  needed  no  baptism  of  repentance.  He  did 
not,  however,  know  him  to  be  the  Messiah,  and 
did  not  recognize  him  as  such,  till  after  the 
promised  sign,  and  this  followed  the  baptism  of 
Jesus. — Saw  and  bare  Avitness.  That  is,  at 
that  time.  He  refers  the  people  to  his  witness- 
bearing  at  the  time  of  the  baptism,  a  testimony 
which  was  still  fresh  in  their  memory. 

35-37.  Again  the  next  day.  That  is,  the 
daj'  following  the  apparent  public  discourse,  so 
briefly  reported  in  the  preceding  verses  (29-34). — 
And  two  of  his  disciples.  See  on  their 
names  verse  40  and  note.  As  they  were  dis- 
ciples of  the  Baptist  it  is  to  be  presumed  that 
they  had  been  baptized,  but  by  John's  baptism 
which  was  unto  repentance  and  not  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  See  Acts 
19  :  3-5. — As  he  Avalked.  Or,  as  we  should 
say,  As  he  was  taking  a  ivalk.  One  of  the  numer- 
ous indications  in  the  Gospels  that  Christ  was  a 
lover  of  nature,  and  accustomed  to  meditate  and 
study  in  communion  with  nature. — Saith,  Be- 
hold the  Lamb  of  God.  See  on  verse  29. 
Observe  the  practical  value  of  line  upon  line. 
John's  private  message  recalls  and  repeats  his 
public  testimony.  See  PhU.  3  : 1.  And  the 
two  disciples  heard  him  speak.  He  spoke 
possibly  in  soliloquy,  more  probably  to  them. 
It  is  clear  that  it  was  not  a  public  discourse 
which  is  here  reported.  There  is  no  ground  for 
the  hypothesis  that  the  two  disciples  had  not 
heard  the  discourse  of  the  previous  day.    Rather 


the  implication  is  that  they  had  heard  it,  and 
these  words  uttered  to  them  in  private  by  their 
teacher,  enforced  the  public  lesson,  and  led 
them  to  seek  further  knowledge  concerning  the 
one  who  was  pointed  out  to  them  as  the  Mes- 
siah. Observe  how  this  passage  teaches  the 
value  of  personal  work  and  personal  influence. 
The  first  disciples  are  led  to  seek  Christ,  not  by 
the  public  discourse,  but  by  the  private  words 
of  the  Baptist ;  by  private  influence  they  bring 
Peter  (41) ;  by  private  invitation  Philip  is  added 
to  the  disciples  (43) ;  and  by  his  personal  solicita- 
tion Nathanael  is  brought  to  Christ  (45). — And 
they  followed  Jesus.  Not,  in  the  religious 
sense  of  the  words,  became  followers  of  Jesus ; 
not  till  later  did  they  leave  all  to  follow  him 
(Luke,  ch.  s).  The  Simplest  is  also  the  truest  interpre- 
tation of  these  words.  They  hterally  followed 
him  ;  drawn  partly  by  curiosity,  partly,  perhaps, 
by  a  real  spiritual  desire  for  closer  acquaintance 
with  the  one  whom  their  teacher  designated  as 
the  Lamb  of  God. 

38,  39.  Jesus  *  *  *  saith  unto  them, 
What  seek  ye  ?  Not  because  he  was  ignorant 
of  their  purpose,  for  he  knew  what  was  in  man 

(ch.  2  ;  25  ;  comp.  Mark  2  :  8,  etc.)  ;    but  bCCaUSC  he  WOUld 

draw  them  out.  In  a  similar  manner  he  opens 
conversation  with  the  woman  at  the  well 
(ch.  4: 10,  16),  with  the  disciples  fishing  at  the  sea 
of  Galilee  (ch.  21 : 5),  and  with  the  disciples  on 
their  way  to  Emmaus  (Luke  24 :  n).  Christ  as  a 
conversationalist  is  a  study  for  the  Christian. 
Observe  how  he  opens  the  way  and  leads  on  to 
familiar  acquaintance,  first  by  his  question,  then 
by  his  invitation,  finally  by  his  hospitality.— 
Rabbi  *  *  *  Master.  Rather,  teacher,  or  doc- 
tor. Rabbi  is  a  Hebrew  word  ;  teacher  UUiiuaxu- 
/.ui)  is  its  Greek  equivalent.  John,  writing 
for  the  Gentile  world,  habitually  translates  the 
Hebrew  phrases  into  their  Greek  equivalents. 
Where  dwellest  thou  ?  They  are  timid  and 
dare  not,  or  at  least  do  not,  express  their  whole 
desire.  Often  in  the  spiritual  reticence,  so  com- 
mon to  the  first  experiences  of  the  awakened 
soul,  its  real  aspirations  after  truth  are  concealed 
beneath  an  assumed  curiosity  respecting  some 
indifferent  matter.  Christ  meets  this  non-per- 
tinent if  not  impertinent  curiosity  with  an 
invitation   which   attaches   the    two   inquirers 


26 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  I. 


3Q  He  saith  unto  them,  Come  and  see.  They  came 
ancl  saw  where  he  dwelt,  and  abode  with  him  that 
day  :  for  it  was  about  the  tenth  hour. 

40  One  of  the  two  which  heard  John  speak,  and 
followed  him,  was  Andrew,  Simon  Peter's  brother. 

41  He  first  findeth  his  own  brother  Simon,  and 
saith  unto  him,  We  have  found  the  Messias,  which 
is,  being  interpreted,  the  Christ. 

42  And  he  brought  him  to  Jesus.    And  when  Jesus 


beheld  him,  he  said,  Thou  art  Simon  the  son  of  Jona  r 
thou '  shalt  be  called  Cephas,  which  is  by  interpreta- 
tion, A  stone. 

43  The  day  following.  Jesus  would  go  forth  into 
Galilee,  and  findeth  Philip,  and  saith  unto  him.  Fol- 
low me. 

44  Now  Philip  was  of  Bethsaida,  the  city  of  Andrew 
and  Peter. 

45  Philip  findeth  Nathanael,  and  saith  unto  him.  We 


i  Matt  16  :  18. 


to  him  for  life. — Come  and  see.  Rather, 
Come  and  ye  shall  see.  This  is  the  best  reading, 
and  is  given  by  Alford,  Meyer,  Tischendorf, 
Tregelles,  etc.  {iifiai^s  not  i'tifrt). — And  abode 
with  him  that  day.  For  the  rest  of  the  day. — 
For  it  was  about  the  tenth  hour.  Reckon- 
ing from  6  A.M.,  according  to  Jewish  fashion, 
this  would  make  it  4  p.  m.  Observe,  as  indica- 
tive of  the  Evangelist  John's  character,  and  of 
the  force  of  the  impression  made  on  him  from 
the  outset  by  Christ,  that  he  remembered  not 
only  the  day,  hut  the  very  hour,  of  his  first 
interview  with  his  subsequent  Lord.  This,  too, 
is  one  of  those  minute  touches  which  would  not 
be  found  in  either  a  mythical  tradition  or  an 
ecclesiastical  forgery. 

40-42.  One  of  the  two  *  *  *  was  An- 
drew. It  is  the  almost  universal  belief  of 
scholars  that  the  other  was  John  the  Evangelist, 
an  opinion  which  rests  on  the  following  consid- 
erations :  (1)  John  never  mentions  himself  in  his 
Gospel ;  if  he  refers  to  himself  at  all  it  is  never 

by    name    (a.  is  :  23;    18:15;    19:26;    20  :  3  ;  21  :  20).      (2) 

The  name  of  the  other  disciple  would  have  been 
mentioned  if  there  had  not  been  some  special 
reason  for  not  mentioning  it,  and  John's  habit 
of  suppressing  his  own  name  constitutes  a  suffi- 
cient reason ;  no  other  plausible  reason  has  been 
suggested.  (3)  The  minute  accuracy  of  detail 
in  this  narrative,  extending  to  the  specification 
of  the  day  and  of  the  hour,  justifles  the  belief 
that  it  is  the  narrative  of  an  eye  and  ear  witness. 
On  the  life  and  character  of  Andrew  see  note  at 
close  of  Matt.  ch.  10,  Vol.  1.— He  first  find- 
eth his  own  brother.  Our  English  version  is 
ambiguous  if  not  misleading.  The  meaning  is 
not,  Before  going  to  Jesus'  residence  he  found 
his  own  brother,  but  of  the  two  he  was  the  first 
to  find  Simon.  The  implication  is  that  both 
went  in  search  of  him  ;  all  three,  John,  Andrew, 
and  Simon  were  probably  at  the  baptism  of  John 
the  Baptist,  and  were  his  disciples.  There  is  no 
evidence  to  sustain  the  hypothesis  that  John 
brought  his  brother  James  to  Jesus  at  this  time, 
or  even  that  James  was  with  John  at  the  Jordan. 
The  Messiah  *  *  *  the  Christ.  One  is  a 
Hebrew,  the  other  a  Greek  word.  The  meaning 
is  the  Anointed  One.  On  the  spiritual  meaning 
of  the  names  of  Jesus,  see  note  at  close  of  Matt. 
ch.  1,  Vol.  I.    Andrew's  exclamation  of  delight 


on  finding  the  Messiah,  eureka  (st'^>;za,utv,  we 
have  found),  is  the  same  attributed  to  Archi- 
medes on  his  discovery  of  the  adulteration  of 
Hiero's  crown.  He  detected  the  mixture  of 
silver  in  a  crown  which  Hiero  had  ordered  to  be 
made  of  gold,  and  determined  the  proportions 
of  the  two  metals  by  a  method  suggested  to 
him  by  the  overflow  of  the  water  when  he 
stepped  into  a  bath.  When  the  thought  struck 
him,  he  is  said  to  have  been  so  pleased  that, 
forgetting  to  put  on  his  clothes,  he  ran  home 
shouting  Eureka,  Eureka,  I  have  found  it,  I  have 
found  it.  What  is  the  grandest  discovery  com- 
pared with  that  which  the  soul  makes  when  it 
finds  its  Messiah?  —  Thou  shalt  be  called 
Cephas,  Avhich  is  by  interpretation 
Peter.  Cephas  is  Hebrew ;  Peter  is  Greek ; 
both  words  mean  a  stone.  On  the  significance 
of  this  change  of  name,  see  Matt.  16 :  18,  note. 
At  the  interview  there  reported  Christ  refers  to 
the  name  here  given,  and  confirms  and  interprets 
it ;  at  least  this  is  the  view  of  the  best  Evan- 
gelical scholars,  Meyer,  Alford,  Lange,  SchafE ; 
and  it  is  more  reasonable,  on  the  whole,  than 
the  supposition  that  the  Evangelist  John  antici- 
pates and  reports  the  change  of  name  out  of  its 
place.  The  careful  student  will  observe  that 
here  Christ's  language  is  that  of  prophecy: 
Thou  shalt  he  called  Peter ;  there  it  is  the  lan- 
guage of  fulfillment.  Thou  art  Peter.  The 
apostle  did  not  become  Peter  tUl  he  made  the 
inspired  confession  of  Christ  as  the  divine 
Messiah,  which  is  recorded  in  Matthew. 

43-45.  The  day  following.  That  is,  the 
day  following  the  bringing  of  Peter  to  Jesus, 
which  Meyer  thinks  occurred  on  the  same  day 
in  which  Andrew  and  John  accompanied  Jesus 
to  his  home,  but  which  it  appears  to  me,  from 
verse  39,  must  have  occurred  on  the  following 
day  ;  and  this  is  the  view  of  the  ancient  and  of 
many  of  the  modem  expositors.  In  that  case 
the  order  would  be  as  follows :  first  day,  John's 
conference  with  the  delegation  from  Jerusalem 
(19-28) ;  second  day,  John's  public  testimony  to 
Jesus  (29-34) ;  third  day,  John's  private  testimony 
to  Jesus  (35-39) ;  fourth  day,  Peter  brought  to 
Jesus  (40-42);  fifth  day,  Nathanael  brought  to 
Jesus  (43-51) ;  seventh  day,  one  day  intervening,  ■ 
the  marriage  at  Cana  in  Galilee  (ch.  2 : 1,  etc). — 
Findeth  Philip  and  saith  unto  him,  Fol> 


Ch.  LJ 


JOHK 


27 


have  found  him,  of  whom  Moses -i  in  the  law,  and  the 
prophets,  did  write,  Jesus  ol  Nazareth,  tlie  son  ot 
Joseph. 

46  And  Nathanael  said  unto  him,"!  Can  there  any 
good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth  ?  Philip  saith  unto 
him.  Come  and  see. 

47  Jesus  saw  Nathanael  coming  to  him,  and  saitli 


j  Lake  24  :  27,  44  . 


,  k  chap.  7  :  41 . 


of  him,   Behold'  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  is  no 
guile  I 

48  Nathanael  saith  unto  him.  Whence  knowest  thou 
mejl  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Betore  that 
Phifp  called  thee,  when  thou  wast  under  the  fig  tree, 
1  saw '"  thee. 

49  Nathanael  answered  and  saith  unto  him,  Rabbi, 


;  2 ;  Rom.  2  :  28,  29 m  Ps.  139  :  1,  2. 


low  me.  This  is  Christ's  first  personal  call  of 
a  disciple  to  follow  him.  There  is  no  evidence 
that  Philip  ever  withdrew  from  this  personal 
following  of  Christ  as  did  John  and  Peter  and 
Andrew  ;  they  did  not  permanently  attach  them- 
selves to  Jesus  till  his  subsequent  call  to  them 
by  the  sea  of  Galilee  (Lake5:i-n).  On  PhOip's 
life,  see  note  at  close  of  Matt.  10,  Vol.  I.  He  is 
not  to  be  confounded  with  Philip  the  deacon, 
mentioned  in  Acts  6:5;  8  : 5-12,  etc. — Beth- 
saida.  There  is  no  good  ground  for  the 
hypothesis  that  there  were  two  towns  of  this 
name  on  or  near  the  sea  of  GalUce.  The  city 
was  on  the  northern  shore,  near  the  entrance  of 
the  Jordan  into  the  sea.  See  Mark  6  :  45,  note  ; 
and  for  illustration  of  site,  John  ch.  6. — Philip 
findeth  Nathanael.  Observe  that  the  young 
disciple  does  not  wait,  but  as  soon  as  he  has 
found  Christ  begins  to  declare  his  discovery  to 
others.  So  with  Andrew  above  (41),  with  the 
woman  of  Samaria  (ch.  4 :  28, 29),  with  Paul  after 
his  conversion  (Acts  9 :  20).  Nathanael's  name 
occurs  in  the  N.  T.  only  here  and  in  John  21  :  2. 
It  is  not  among  the  list  of  apostles  furnished  by 
Matt.  10  : 2-5  ;  Mark  3 :  16-19 ;  Luke  6  :  14-16  ; 
and  Acts  1 :  13.  But  they  all  mention,  in  close 
connection' with  Philip,  a  Bartholomew,  which  is 
not  properly  a  name  but  only  a  patronymic,  its 
meaning  being  Son  of  Tholmai.  These  facts 
have  led  most  scholars  to  adopt,  as  a  reasonable 
hypothesis,  the  opinion  that  Nathanael  and  Bar- 
tholomew are  different  names  for  the  same 
person.  The  name  Nathanael,  like  our  Theo- 
dore, means  gift  of  God.  —  We  have  found 
him  of  Avhom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  the 
prophets,  did  write.  The  reference  isunmis- 
takably  to  the  Messiah.  For  references  in  the 
books  of  Moses  to  the  promised  Messiah,  see 
Gen.  3  :  15  and  17  : 7,  with  Gal.  3  :  16,  and  Deut. 
18  :  15-19. — Jesus  ol  Nazareth,  the  son  of 
Joseph.  This  is  the  language,  not  of  the  Evan- 
gelist, but  of  Philip.  Unquestionably  at  that 
time  Philip  knew  nothing  of  the  supposed  birth 
of  Jesus  ;  to  him  Jesus  was,  as  to  the  Nazarenes 
subsequently  (Matt.  13 :  54-56),  simply  the  son  of 
Joseph.  The  supposed  inconsistency  of  this 
language  and  the  account  of  Christ's  super- 
natural birth  as  given  by  Matthew,  is  therefore 
purely  imaginary. 

46.    Out  of  Nazareth  is  it  possible  that 
anything  good  can  come  !    There  is  a  scorn- 


ful emphasis  on  the  word  Nazareth  not  preserved 
in  our  English  version.  That  Nazareth  was  an 
unimportant  and  insignificant  town  is  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  it  is  neither  mentioned  in  the 
O.  T.  nor  in  Josephus ;  that  the  moral  condi- 
tion of  its  inhabitants  was  below  that  of  the 
rest  of  GalQee  is  indicated  by  the  declaration  of 
Mark  6  :  5,  6,  and  by  the  mob  which  threatened 
Ihe  life  of  Christ  at  a  time  when  he  was  just  grow- 
ing into  popularity  elsewhere  in  Galilee  (Luke  4  .- 
2s-so).  No  other  definite  reason  is  known  for  the 
evident  odium  which  attached  to  Nazareth  even 
in  the  minds  of  Galileans.  Comp.  Matt.  2  :  23, 
note.  The  question  of  Nathanael  furnishes  a 
striking  illustration  of  the  spirit  of  prejudice  in 
even  good  men.  To  Nathanael  it  seems  impos- 
sible that  the  promised  Prophet  can  appear 
elsewhere  than  in  or  near  the  city  of  the  Great 
King. — Come  and  see.  This  is  the  best  answer 
to  make  to  unbelief.  Christ  is  his  o'mi  best  wit- 
ness (ch.  5:34).  It  is  uot  merely  true  that  "per- 
sonal experience  is  the  best  test  of  the  truth  of 
Christianity,  which,  like  the  sun  in  heaven,  can 
only  be  seen  in  its  own  light  "  {Schaff),  but  it  is 
also  true  that  Christ  is  a  greater  miracle  than 
any  he  ever  wrought ;  and  that  the  supreme 
character  of  Christ  carries  in  itself  a  moral 
conviction  to  hearts  which  resist  all  arguments 
drawn  from  nature.  Of  this  truth  John  Stuart 
Mill,  in  his  Three  Essays  on  Religion,  affords  a 
striking  Illustration.  After  considering  all  the 
arguments  for  the  existence  and  perfection  of 
the  Divine  Being  derived  from  nature,  and  de- 
claring that  Natural  Religion  points  to  a  Being 
"of  great  but  limited  power,"  "who  desires 
and  pays  some  regard  to  the  happiness  of  his 
creatures,  but  who  seems  to  have  other  motives 
of  action  which  he  cares  more  for,"  he  comes  to 
the  character  of  Christ,  and  not  only  pays  a 
tribute  to  it,  eloquent  and  reverent,  but  adds 
his  conviction  that  it  would  not  "  even  now  be 
easy,  even  for  an  unbeliever,  to  find  a  better 
translation  of  the  rule  of  virtue  from  the  abstract 
into  the  concrete,  than  to  endeavor  so  to  live 
that  Christ  would  approve  our  life."  Chry- 
sostom  notices  the  gentleness  and  candor  of 
Philip's  reply ;  he  furnishes  a  model  to  all 
disputants  in  dealing  with  religious  prejudice. 
See  2  Tim.  2  :  24, 

47-49.    An  Israelite  indeed.    Because  in 
faith  and  love  a  true  child  of  God.    Comp.  Luke 


28 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  I. 


thou"  art  the  Son  of  God;    thou  art  the  King"  of 
Israel. 

50  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Because  I 
said  unto  thee,  I  saw  thee  under  the  fig  tree,  believest 
thou  ?  thou  shalt  see  greater  things  than  these. 


51  And  he  saith  unto  him,  Verilj',  verily,  I  say  unto 
you.  Hereafter  ye  shall  see  heaven  p  open,  and  the 
angels  1  of  God  ascending  and  descending  upon  the 
Son  of  man. 


nchap.  20:28,29;   Matt.  14:33 0  Matt.  21  :  5  ;   27  :  ll....pEzek.  1  :  1.  ...q  Gen.  28  :  12;  Dau.  7:9,  10;  Acts  1  :  10,  11. 


19  :  9 ;  Romans  2  :  28,  29 ;  Gal.  3  :  39 ;  6  :  15,  16. 
For  O.  T.  description  of  such  an  Israelite,  see 
Psalm  15. — In  whom  is  no  guile.  Therefore, 
characteristically  unlike  the  Pharisees,  whose 
pride  it  was  that  they  were  children  of  Abraham 
(Luke  3:8;  John  8 :  33),  and  who  wcrc  fuU  of  hypocrisy 

(Matt.  6:2,5, 16;  23:  14-33). — WhCUCe  knOWest  thOU 

me  ?  As  Saul  of  Tarsus  (Acts  9 ;  5,  e,  notes),  so 
Nathanael  is  surprised  by  the  Lord's  reading  of 
his  character  and  inward  experience. — When 
thou  wast  under  the  fig-tree.  The  Avhole 
course  of  the  narrative  indicates  in  this  response 
a  supernatural  sight,  as  in  the  previous  charac- 
terization of  Nathanael  a  supernatural  insight. 
If  Christ  had  merely  chanced  to  see  Nathanael 
without  being  seen  by  him,  this  fact  would  afEord, 
surely,  no  basis  for  Nathanael's  faith,  or  Christ's 
commendation  of  it.  It  seems  also  clear  that 
something  more  is  implied  than  the  mere  fact 
that  Christ  saw  Nathanael  under  a  fig-tree,  since 
that  would  neither  explain  Christ's  commenda- 
tion of  him  as  an  Israelite  without  guile,  nor 
Nathanael's  astonishment.  Hence  the  surmise 
of  the  commentators  that  he  had  retired  there 
for  purposes  of  prayer,  and  that  Christ  had 
seen  him  there,  like  the  Israel  from  whom  he 
descended  (oen.  32  :  24-28)  wrestling  with  God, 
for  the  bestowal  of  the  long-promised  bless- 
ing to  his  realm,  in  the  gift  of  the  Messiah. 
It  was  probably  this  revelation  of  the  secret 
of  his  soul  which  caused  Christ  to  characterize 
him  as  a  true  Israelite,  and  Nathanael  to  recog- 
nize, in  the  One  who  read  his  inmost  life  so 
perfectly,  the  King  of  Israel.— The  Son  of  God 
*  *  *  the  King  of  Israel.  The  Messiah.  See 
Ps.  2:7;  Matt.  16  :  16 ;  Luke  22  :  70  ;  John 
1 :  34: ;  11  :  27.  Observe  that  Christ  recognizes 
and  accepts  this  characterization  of  himself  at 
the  outset  of  his  ministry,  a  quite  sufficient 
refutation  of  the  theory  of  Renan,  that  it  was 
the  outgrowth  of  his  followers'  later  admiration, 
and  tacitly  accepted  by  Christ  at  or  near  the 
close  of  his  earthly  life.  That  Nathanael  fully 
comprehended  the  meaning  of  his  own  confession 
is  not,  however,  probable. 

50,51.  There  is  some  diflBculty  respecting 
the  proper  interpretation  of  Christ's  promise 
here.  The  word  hereafter  is  rather  henceforth; 
but  it  is  omitted  by  the  best  critics,  e.g.,  Alford, 
Tischendorf,  Lachmann.  The  figure  is  undoubt- 
edly drawn  from  the  vision  of  Jacob  (Israel)  of 
the  ladder  between  heaven  and  earth,  and  the 
angels  ascending  and  descending  on  it  (cen.  28 :  12). 


Some  suppose  the  reference  to  the  angelic  ap- 
pearances to  Christ,  and  the  divine  signs  given  in 

attestation    of    his    mission  (ver.  32  ;    Matt.  4:  11  ;    Luke 

2 :  13 ;  9 :  29-31 ;  22 :  43),  but  the  earlier  of  these  had 
already  taken  place,  and  Nathanael  was  neither 
present  at  the  temptation,  at  the  transfiguration, 
nor  at  the  garden  of  Gethsemane.  Chrysostom 
refers  in  addition  to  the  angelic  appearances  at 
the  resurrection,  but  they  by  no  means  furnish  a 
literal  fulfillment  of  the  promise.  Some  inter- 
pret it  spiritually,  of  the  manifest  opening  of  the 
heavens  and  the  intercommunication  between 
earth  and  heaven,  through  Jesus  Christ.  So 
Maurice  :  "  Faithful  and  true  Israelite  !  the  vision 
to  thy  progenitor  who  first  bore  that  name,  shall 
be  substantiated  for  thee,  and  for  those  who 
trust  in  me  in  lonely  hours,  through  clouds  and 
darkness,  as  thou  hast  done.  The  ladder  set 
upon  earth  and  reaching  to  heaven — the  ladder 
upon  which  the  angels  of  God  ascended  and 
descended — is  a  ladder  for  thee  and  for  all. 
For  the  Son  of  man,  who  joins  earth  to  heaven, 
the  seen  to  the  unseen,  God  and  man  in  one,  He 
is  with  you  ;  through  Him  your  spirits  may  arise 
to  God ;  through  Him  God's  Spirit  shall  come 
down  upon  you."  Similarly  Luther,  Calvin, 
Tholuck,  Alford,  and  others.  But  this  inter- 
pretation is  not  wholly  satisfactory,  since  it 
converts  Christ's  words  into  an  allegory,  and 
deprives  them  of  all  literal  meaning.  According 
to  this  view  the  angels  are  but  spiritual  bless- 
ings, the  open  heavens  are  not  seen,  and  the 
angelic  appearances  are  not  upon  the  Messiah, 
but  through  him  to  mankind.  A  third  inter- 
pretation connects  Christ's  words  here  with  his 
analogous  declarations  in  Matt.  25  :  31 ;  26  :  64, 
etc.,  and  refers  it  to  his  Second  Coming.  So 
Ryle  :  "When  He  comes  the  second  time  to  take 
his  great  power  and  reign,  the  words  of  thi? 
text  shall  be  literally  fulfilled.  His  believing 
people  shall  see  heaven  open,  and  a  constant 
communication  kept  up  .between  heaven  and 
earth— the  tabernacle  of  God  with  men,  and  the 
angels  visibly  ministering  to  the  King  of  Israel, 
and  King  of  all  the  earth."  I  believe  that  these 
three  views  are  congruous  and  consistent,  and 
are  all  embraced  in  the  promise.  Christ  opened 
the  communication  between  earth  and  heaven  ; 
manifested  that  fact  by  the  angelic  appearances 
which  accompanied  his  coming,  his  presence,  and 
his  departure  ;  still  manifests  it,  by  the  spiritual 
blessings  which  he  constantly  confers  in  answer 
to  the  prayers  of  his  people  ;   and  will  finally 


O 


Ch.  IL] 


JOHN. 


■Z9 


A 


CHAPTER   II. 

ND  the  third  day  there  was  a  marriage  in  Cana'  of 
Galilee  ;  and  the  mother  of  Jesus  was  there : 


2  And  both  Jesus  was  called,  and  his  disciples,  to  the 
marriage." 

3  And  when'  they  wanted  wine,  the  mother  of  Jesus 
saith  unto  him,  They  have  no  wine. 


r  ch.4:46;  Joshua  19  :  28....8Heb.  13:4 t  Eccles.  10  :  19  ;   Isa.  24:  11. 


CANA  OF   GALILEE. 


manifest  it  yet  more  gloriously  when  he  comes 
to  take  possession  of  his  established  kingdom, 
with  his  holy  angels  with  him.  The  past  and 
present  fulfillments  of  this  prophecy  are  but 
fragmentary  and  imperfect.  The  final  and 
perfect  fulfillment  awaits  us  in  the  future. 


Ch.  2  : 1-11.  THE  MARRIAGE  AT  CANA  IN  GALILEE. 
Cheistianitt  not  asceticism. 

This  miracle  is  recounted  only  by  the  Evangelist 
John.  That  fact  does  not  discredit  the  account : 
it  incideqtally  confirms  the  view  that  he  wrote  to 
supply  what  was  lacking  in  the  other  Gospels. 

1,  2.  The  third  day.  That  is,  probably,  after 
the  interview  with  Nathanael  described  at  the 
close  of  the  preceding  chapter.  Lightfoot  says 
that,  according  to  Jewish  custom,  the  weddings 
of  virgins  took  place  on  the  fourth  day  of  the 
week,  our  Wednesday,  and  of  widows  on  the  fifth 
day,  our  Thursday. — There  was  a  marriage. 


For  description  of  wedding  ceremonies  among 
the  Jews,  with  illustration  of  wedding  proces- 
sion, see  Matt.  3.5  : 1-13,  Prel.  Note.— In  Cana 
of  Galilee.  The  traditional  site  is  KefrKenna, 
four  and  one-half  miles  northwest  of  Nazareth. 
The  more  probable  site  is  about  nine  miles  north 
of  Nazareth  and  six  or  eight  hours  from  Caper- 
naum. See  Map,  Vol.  I,  p.  50.  Robinson  de- 
scribes it  as  a  fine  situation,  and  once  a  consider- 
able village  of  well-built  houses.  They  are  now 
uninhabited  and  the  whole  region  is  wild  and  des- 
olate.—And  the  mother  of  Jesus  was  there. 
Her  name  is  never  mentioned  by  John.  The 
fact  that  Joseph  is  not  mentioned  in  either  of 
the  Gospels,  after  Christ's  manhood,  has  led  to 
the  universal  opinion  that  he  was  dead.  The 
presence  of  Mary,  and  her  apparent  authority 
(ver.  d),  indicates  that  the  bride  or  bridegroom 
were  connections  or  relatives.  Different  tradi- 
tions represent  respectively  Alphaeus,  one  of  his 
sons,  John  the  Apostle,  and  Simon  the  Canaanite 


30 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  II. 


<t  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Woman,  what  have  I  to  do 
with  thee  ?  mine  hour  is  not  yet  come. 


S  His  mother  saith  unto  the  servants,  Whatsoever" 
he  saith  unto  you,  do  it. 


u  Luke  5  :  5,  6. 


as  the  bridegroom,  but  they  are  all  equally  un- 
trustworthy. The  Mormons  maintain  that  this 
was  the  marriage  of  Jesus  himself.  The  student 
will  observe  that  it  is  said  of  Mary  that  she  was 
there.,  of  Jesus  that  he  was  called.,  an  indication 
that  he  came  at  a  later  period,  and  probably  after 
the  marriage  feast,  which  usually  lasted  for  sev- 
eral days,  had  begun. — And  his  disciples. 
Probably  those  who  had  already  begun  to  follow 
him,  though  not  yet  ordained  as  apostles,  nor 
summoned  by  him  to  leave  their  regular  avoca- 
tions to  become  his  constant  companions.  These 
were  Andrew,  John,  Simon  Peter,  Philip,  and 
Nathanael,  and  they  were  probably  invited  be- 
cause they  were  with  Christ,  and  out  of  consid- 
eration for  him. 

3.  And  the  wine  failing.  Not  merely,  as 
in  our  English  version,  when  they  wanted  wine. 
The  implication  is  that  wine  had  been  provided, 
but  the  supply  proved  insufficient.  Possibly  the 
unexpected  addition  of  the  five  disciples  of  Christ 
exhausted  it. — The  mother  of  Jesus  saith 
unto  him,  They  have  no  wine.  Why  did 
she  appeal  to  him  ?  There  is  certainly  no  ground 
for  such  an  explanation  as  that  of  Bengel,  that 
she  meant  to  give  a  hint  to  Jesus  and  his  disci- 
ples to  go  away  !  Nor  is  there  any  evidence  that 
she  asked  him  to  work  a  miracle,  or  even  defi- 
nitely anticipated  or  desired  it.  If  she  were  in 
anj'  way  responsible  for  the  success  of  the  feast, 
and  the  supply  was  falling  short,  the  appeal  for 
help  to  her  son  was  natural ;  and  it  was  specially 
so,  if,  as  modern  customs  in  the  Orient  indi- 
cate (see  EUicott's  Life  of  Christ,  p.  118),  the 
guests  often  contribute  to  the  supplies  at  such 
entertainments.  Along  with  this  desire  to  do 
the  bride  and  bridegroom  a  favor,  there  may 
have  been,  as  Chrysostom  suggests,  a  desire 
through  her  son  to  render  herself  conspicuous, 
and  a  vague  and  inexpressible  feeling  that  he 
could,  if  he  would,  supply  the  want  by  a  miracle, 
as  Elijah  supplied  the  widow's  cruse  (t  Kings  i7 : 
14-16).  And  his  quasi  rebuke,  if  rebuke  it  be,  may 
have  been  addressed  to  this  mother's  vanity. 

4.  Woman,  what  have  I  to  do  with 
thee  ?  Mine  hour  is  not  yet  come.  Some 
question  has  been  made  respecting  the  meaning 
of  this  language.  It  is  clear  (1)  that  tvoman  is 
not  a  harsh  term,  and  involves  no  tone  of  rebuke 
or  reproof ;  for  when  Christ  on  the  cross  com- 
mends his  mother  to  John's  care,  he  uses  the 
same  term,  "Woman,  behold  thy  son"  (ch. i9 .-  se) ; 
(2)  the  Greek  phrase  (r/  iuol  y.ai  ani)  is  properly 
rendered  in  our  English  version.  What  have  I  to 
do  with  thee?    Though  literally  capable  of  the 


translation  proposed  by  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  What 
is  this  to  thee  and  me?  that  is,  What  is  this  to  us? 
the  uniform  usage  of  the  N.  T.  forbids  this  trans- 
lation. The  Greek  is  the  same  in  the  following 
passages,  where  the  translation  cannot  be  other 
than  that  given  both  there  and  here.  Matt.  8  : 
29,  note  ;  Mark  1  :  2i ;  5:7;  Luke  !?  :  28.  I  can 
only  understand  it  as  a  disclaimer  on  Christ's 
part  of  any  responsibility  in  the  matter,  and  an 
intimation  that  in  his  future  mission  he  was  not, 
as  he  had  heretofore  been,  subject  unto  his 
mother.  There  may  also  be  in  it  implied  a  gentle 
rebuke  of  her  endeavor  to  elicit  from  him  some 
display  of  his  miraculous  power,  before  the  time 
for  the  commencement  of  his  public  ministry. 
Chrysostom  interprets  her  spirit  here  by  that  of 
Christ's  brethren  (ch.  7 : 4),  and  his  reply  by  his 
refusal,  later,  to  turn  aside  from  his  work  at  her 
solicitation  (Matt.  12 :  47, 4s).  Evidently  she  did  not 
regard  his  language  as  that  of  refusal,  for  she 
expects  his  aid,  and  bids  the  servants  do  his  bid- 
ding. "  She  read  a  yes  latent  in  his  apparent  no. " 
— {Trench.) — Mine  hour  is  not  yet  come.  Not 
mine  hour  to  die,  though  that  is  usually  the  sig- 
nification of  this  oft-repeated  phrase  in  John's 

Gospel    (ch.  7:30;   8:20;    12:23,27;   13  :  l)  ;     but    that 

would  be  here  meaningless ;  nor.  The  hour  to 
work  this  miracle,  because  the  wine  is  not  yet 
wholly  exhausted,  or  the  guests  are  not  conscious 
of  the  lack,  and  have  not  asked  for  supply  ;  but. 
The  hour  for  me  to  begin  my  public  ministry, 
accompanied  as  it  is  to  be  with  the  working  of 
miracles,  the  hour  for  my  manifestation.  The 
Protestant  commentaries  see  in  the  language 
here  a  rebuke  of  the  spirit  of  Mariolatry,  in  this 
following  the  fathers;  e.  g.,  Chrysostom:  "The 
answer  was  not  that  of  one  rejecting  his  mother, 
but  of  One  who  would  show  her  that  having 
borne  him  would  have  availed  nothing,  had  she 
not  been  very  good  and  faithful ;  "  and  Augus- 
tine :  "  As  God  he  has  no  mother.  And  now  that 
he  was  about  to  perform  a  divine  work,  he 
ignores,  as  it  we»e,  the  human  womb,  and  asks, 
'  Woman,  what  have  I  to  do  with  thee  ? '  as  much 
as  to  say,  Thou  art  not  the  mother  of  that  in  me 
which  works  miracles ;  thou  art  not  the  mother 
of  my  Godhead." 

5.  His  mother  saith  unto  the  servants. 
The  fact  that  there  were  servants,  and  more  than 
one,  indicates  that  the  family  was  in  at  least  com- 
fortable if  not  opulent  circumstances.  Christ 
associated  with  the  rich  as  readily  as  with  the 
poor;  but  the  rich  did  not,  as  readily  as  the 
poor,  associate  with  him.  Her  direction  to  the 
servants  and  their  unquestioning  obedience  indi- 


Ch.  IL] 


JOHN. 


31 


6  And  there  were  set  there  six  water-pots  of  stone, 
after  the  manner  of  the  purifying  of  the  Jews,  contain- 
ing two  or  three  firkins  apiece. 

7  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Fill  the  water-pots  with 
water.     And  they  tilled  them  up  to  the  briiu. 

8  And  he  saith  unto  them.  Draw"  out  now,  and  bear 
unto  the  governor  "  of  the  feast.    And  they  bare  //. 

9  When  tlie  ruler  of  the  feast  had  tasted  the  water 
that  was  made  wine,  and  knew  not  whence  it  was : 


(but  the  servants "  which  drew  the  water  knew;)  the 
governor  of  the  feast  called  the  bridegroom, 

10  And  saith  unto  him.  Every  man  at  the  beginnine 
doth  set  forth  good  wine  ;  and  when  men  have  well 
drunk,  then  that  which  is  worse  :  but  thou  hast  kept 
the  good  winey  until  now. 

11  This  beginning  of  miracles  did  Jesus  in  Cana  of 
Galilee,  and  manifested^  forth  his  glory:  and  his  dis- 
ciples believed  "  on  him. 


V  Eccles.  9  :  7....1V  Rom.  13  :  7....X  cli.  7  :  17  ;  Ps.  119  :  100.... y  Ps.  104  :  15  ;  Prov.  9  :2,  5....Z  ch  1  :  14....a  1  John  5  ;  13. 


cates  that  in  this  marriage  festival  she  had  some 
degree  of  authority. 

6-8.  The  forms  of  the  water-pot  and  of  the 
ewer,  with  which  the  water  was  drawn  or  dipped 
out,  are  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration. 
The  water-pots  may  have  set  in 
the  room ;  more  probably  in  an 
ante-room  or  in  the  courtyard  of 
the  house.  The  fact  that  the  wa- 
ter was  provided  for  purifying  is 
stated  to  account  for  the  presence 
of  so  much  water ;  and  the  refer- 
ence to  the  manner  of  the  Jews  is 
added  for  the  Gentile  readers,  for 
whom  John  especially  wrote.  On 
these  ceremonial  washings,  see 
Mark  7  :  2-5,  notes.  The  firMn 
(iitTntjTm)  is  equivalent  to  S^^'  gal- 
lons ;  the  whole  amount  of  water, 
therefore,  was  between  100  and 
150  gallons.  Since  the  jars  were 
lilled  to  the  brim,  the  water  was 
apparent  after  they  were  filled; 
there  was,  therefore,  no  room  for 
fraud  or  mistake.  The  statement  of  the  exact 
number  and  proximate  size  indicates  that  we 
have  here  the  description  of  an  eye-witness.  It 
also  indicates  that  there  were  a  large  number  of 
guests. 

The  quantity  of  wine  made  by  Christ  on  this 
occasion  has  been  the  subject  of  some  hostUe 
criticism,  as  though  it  were  an  invitation  to  ex- 
cessive drinking.  But  (1)  there  is  no  evidence 
that  any  more  wine  was  created  than  was  used. 
Whether  it  was  changed  in  the  stone  jars,  or  as 
It  was  carried  to  the  guests,  does  not  appear ; 
(2)  in  Palestine,  a  wine-growing  and  wine-con- 
suming country,  where  it  is  not  merely  a  bever- 
age, but  the  beverage  of  the  common  people, 
four  or  five  barrels  of  wine  would  not  seem  so 
extraordinary  a  supply  as  it  would  to  us,  nor 
would  it  produce  any  such  effect  in  the  consump- 
tion as  an  equal  amount  of  the  ordinary  wines  of 
to-day ;  (3)  it  is  God's  way  to  pour  out  his 
bounty,  not  only  in  abundance,  but  in  super- 
abundance. As  Christ  created,  not  merely  barely 
enough  bread  for  the  5,000,  but  the  disciples, 
after  all  were  fed,  gathered  up  twelve  baskets 
full,  so  we  may  well  believe  that  here  he  created 
not  barely  suflScient  for  the  hour,  but  a  super- 


abundance which  remained  to  bless  the  home 
after  the  departure  of  the  guests.     On  the  prob- 
able character  of  this  wine,  see  below,  Note  on 
Christ's  example  in  the  use  of  wine. 
9,  10.  The  ruler  of  the  feast.    The  same 


WATER-POTS   AND  EWERS. 

word  as  governor  of  the  feast,  in  the  preceding 
verse.  Among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  a  ruler 
of  the  feast  (symposiarch)  was  commonly  chosen, 
usually  by  lot,  who  regulated  the  whole  order  of 
the  festivities,  proposed  the  amusements,  etc. 
A  reference  in  the  Apocrypha  (sccies.  as :  i,  s)  indi- 
cates that  the  same  practice  prevailed  among  the 
Jews.  There  is  no  ground  for  supposing  the 
ruler  of  the  feast  in  this  case  to  have  been  other 
than  a  guest,  who  occupied  this  honorary  office. 
—But  the  servants  knew,  they  having 
drawn  the  water.  Not  merely,  the  servants 
luliich  drew,  kyiew ;  the  reason  of  their  knowledge 
is  indicated  ;  they  knew  because  they  had  them- 
selves tilled  the  jars  with  the  water,  and  drawn 
it  out.— Called  the  bridegroom.  Called  oiit 
to  him,  probably  across  the  table.  The  language 
which  follows  is  sportive,  and  characteristic  of 
such  an  occasion  of  festivity. — Every  man  at 
the  beginning  doth  set  forth  good  wine ; 
and  when  men  are  drunken,  then  that 
which  is  Avorse.  The  verb  rendered  in  our 
English  version  "have  well  drunk"  is  literally 
are  drunken.  It  is  in  the  passive  voice.  This 
does  not  necessarily  imply  that  in  the  East  men 
counted  on  the  inebriacy  of  their  guests,  and  for 


32 


that  reason  provided  the  best  wine  first,  still  less 
that  the  guests  here  were  intoxicated.  "The 
man  says  only  in  joke,  as  if  it  were  a  general  ex- 
perience, what  he  certainly  may  have  often  ob- 
served."— (Meyer.)  The  ancient  commentators 
have  observed  the  difference  between  the  feasts 
of  the  world  and  the  feasts  of  Christ ;  the  world 
gives  its  best  wine  at  first,  and  when  men  have 
become  intoxicated  with  it,  then  the  poor,  as  the 
prodigal  son  experienced  (Luke  15 :  is-ie) ;  Christ 
ever  reserves  the  good  wine  to  the  last.  See  this 
thought  beautifully  drawn  out  by  Jeremy  Taylor 
in  his  Life  of  Christ.     Comp.  John  4  :  13,  14. 

11.  This  bes;iiiniiig  of  miracles.  An  in- 
cidental and  indirect  testimony  that  the  miracles 
of  Christ's  infancy,  narrated  in  the  apocryphal 
Gospels,  are  spurious. — And  manifested  forth 
his  glory.  Observe  Ms  glory  ;  the  miracles  of 
the  disciples  did  not  manifest  forth  their  glory, 
but  that  of  their  Lord  (aciss.-s;  14:11-15). — And 
his  disciples  believed  in  him.  That  is,  the 
five  that  had  already  begun  to  follow  him.  But 
what  or  how  much  they  believed  is  not  indicated. 
They  began  to  have  that  confidence  in  him  which 
was  not  consummated  till  after  his  resurrection. 

In  respect  to  this  miracle,  observe,  (1)  The  sim- 
plicity of  the  narrative.  John  does  not  directly 
assert  that  the  water  was  made  wine,  nor  that  a 
miracle  was  performed,  nor  does  he  deduce  any 
conclusion  from  the  event ;  he  simply  narrates 
what  he  saw  and  heard — the  jars  filled  with 
water,  the  contents  drawn  out,  the  testimony  of 
the  governor  of  the  feast  to  the  excellence  of  the 
wine  carried  to  him  ;  the  reader  is  left  to  draw 
his  own  conclusion.  (2)  The  utter  failure  of  all 
naturalistic  explanations,  such  as  that  Christ  sim- 
ply accelerated  the  process  of  nature,  or  changed 
the  attributes  of  the  water  after  the  analogy  of 
mineral  waters,  so  as  to  give  it  the  taste  and  ap- 
pearance of  wine,  or  that  the  taste  and  semblance 
of  wine  was  due  to  a  state  of  spiritual  exaltation 
on  the  part  of  the  company,  all  of  which  views 
have  had  defenders  even  among  orthodox  critics. 
See  Lange's  and  Meyer's  Commentaries  for  a 
statement  of  these  and  kindred  interpretations. 
Meyer  well  says,  respecting  them  all,  "Instead 
of  a  transmutation  of  water  we  have  a  frivolous 
transmutation  of  history. "  (3)  The  impossibility 
of  deception,  or  fraud.  The  jars  are  those  belong- 
ing to  the  household  ;  they  are  filled  to  the  brim 
with  water  ;  it  is  drawn  out  by  the  servants  ;  the 
judgment  respecting  the  wine  is  pronounced  by 
the  governor  of  the  feast,  who  does  not  know  of 
the  miracle.  (4)  The  analogy  of  nature.  "He 
who  made  the  wine  at  this  wedding  does  the 
same  thing  every  year  in  the  vines.  As  the  water 
which  the  servants  put  into  the  water-pots  was 
turned  into  wine  by  the  Lord,  so  that  which  the 
clouds  pour  down  is  turned  into  wine  by  the 
same  Lord.    It  excites  no  wonder  in  us,  because 


JOHN.  [Ch.  IL 

it  occurs  every  year." — {Augustine.)  (5)  The 
moral  and  sjnritual  significa-nce  of  the  miracle^ 
Contrast  Christ's  ready  consent  to  convert  water 
into  wine  to  add  to  the  festivities  of  others,  with 
his  refusal  to  convert  stones  into  bread  to  supply 
his  own  imperative  needs  (Matt.  4 : 3, 4) ;  his  conver- 
sion of  water  into  wine,  the  symbol  of  inspiration 
and  life,  with  the  first  miracle  of  Moses,  who 
converted  water  into  blood,  an  instrument  and  a 
symbol  of  death  (Exod.  7 :  20, 21)— Christ  brings  life 
and  power,  Moses  brings  law  and  condemnation 
(Rom.  7 : 8, 9) ;  his  entrance  on  his  ministry  by  at- 
tendance on  a  marriage  festivity,  and  his  miracle 
to  prolong  its  festivities,  with  the  asceticism  of 
John  the  Baptist  (Luke  1  :  15 ;  Matt.  3 : 4).  Compare 
his  inauguration  of  the  new  covenant  by  a  mira- 
cle at  a  marriage  with  God's  inauguration  of  the 
old  covenant  by  ordaining  and  creating  the  mar- 
riage relation  (cen.  i :  21-24).  Notice  in  this  miracle 
a  type  of  Christ's  redeeming  love,  who  converts 
the  water  of  the  law  into  the  wine  of  the  Gospel, 
and  every  soul  which  hears  and  obeys  his  creative 
command  into  an  inspiring  life-giving  spirit  (Jotn 
5 :  21 ;  6 :  33 ;  1  Cor.  15 :  45).  Obscrvc  the  fundamental 
lesson,  that  Christ's  example  bids  us  not  to  with- 
draw from  the  world,  nor  abstain  from  its  use, 
but  to  use  without  abusing  it  (i  Cor.  7 :  31),  and  that 
the  assertion  that  Christianity  bids  men  "make 
this  earth  as  unpleasant  to  themselves  as  possible 
so  as  to  secure  hereafter  the  joys  of  heaven,"  is 
a  monstrous  perversion  of  the  teaching  and  ex- 
ample of  Jesus  Christ.  Comp.  Matt.  9  :  9,  10 ; 
11 :  19  ;  Luke  7  :  36  ;  11  :  37  ;  14  : 1  ;  John  12  : 1,  2. 
Chkist's  example  in  the  use  of  wine.  1.  The 
facts.  These  are  that  Christ  inaugurated  his 
public  ministry  by  attending  a  wedding  feast,  and 
there  by  a  miracle  creating  a  large  quantity  of 
wine — certainly  all  that  the  guests  could  use — 
for  the  simple  purpose  of  prolonging  the  festiv- 
ities of  the  occasion ;  that  he  was  accustomed 
throughout  his  life  to  attend  social  gatherings 
where  wine  was  freely  used ;  that  he  used  it 
freely  himself,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  it 
subjected  him  to  the  reproaches  and  the  misrep- 
resentations of  his  enemies  (Matt,  n  :  19;  Luke  7 :  34) ; 
that  he  never  directly  or  indirectly  condemns  the 
use  of  wine,  though  he  does  condemn  drunken- 
ness (Matt.  24  :  49 ;  Luke  12 :  45) ;  and  that  he  directs 
its  use  by  his  church  as  a  perpetual  memorial  of 
his  atoning  love,  and  employs  it  as  a  symbol  of 
joy  and  fellowship  in  the  world  to  come  (Mstt.  26  -. 

26-29  ;  Mark  14  :  22-25  ;  Luke  22  :  18 ;  1  Cor.  10  :  16).     The  f  OrCC 

of  this  example  is  strengthened  by  the  reflection 
that  drunkenness  was  common  in  the  East  before 

Christ's  day  (Esther  1  :  10  ;    Isa.  6  :  22  ;    28  :  7  ;    Dan.  5:2-4,- 

Hosea  4  :  ii),  and  in  Palestine  and  the  neighboring 
countries- during  Christ's  lifetime,  so  that  even 
the  church  of  Christ  had  need  of  constant  admo- 
nition against  it  (Matt.  24  :  49  ;  Luke  15  :  13  ;  Rom.  13  :  13; 
1  Cor.  11  :  21 ;    Gal.  5  :  21 ;  1  Pet.  4:3);   that  a  Jcwlsh    Sect 


Ch.  II.] 


JOHN. 


33 


existed,  the  Esseues  (Matt.  3 : 7,  note),  ■who  were 
total  abstainers,  with  whom  Christ  never  identi- 
fied hinaself ;  and  that  he  directly  contrasts  his 
life  and  example  with  that  of  John  the  Baptist 
(Matt,  n  :  19),  who,  as  a  Nazarite,  was  pledged 
against  the  use  of  wine  and  strong  drink  (Luke  1 :  15  j 
Numb.  6 : 3).  Attempts  have  been  made  to  show 
that  the  wine  which  Christ  made  on  this  occasion 
and  used  on  other  occasions  was  not  fermented. 
It  is  certain  that  there  were  in  use  in  the  Greek 
and  Roman  world,  and  presumptively  in  Pales- 
tine, three  kinds  of  wine  —  fermented  wines, 
which,  however,  were  unlike  our  o^vn  flery  wines 
and  contained  only  a  small  percentage  of  alcohol, 
and  which  were  usually  mixed  in  the  use  with 
water,  in  the  proportion  of  two  or  three  parts  of 
water  to  one  of  wine ;  new  wine,  made  of  the 
juice  of  the  grape,  and,  like  our  new  cider,  not 
fermented  and  not  intoxicating ;  and  wines  in 
which,  by  boiling  the  unfermented  juice  of  the 
grape,  or  by  the  addition  of  certain  drugs,  the 
process  of  fermentation  had  been  stopped,  and 
the  formation  of  alcohol  prevented.  It  is  claimed 
that  fermented  wine  was  not  used  at  the  Pass- 
over, though  I  can  find  no  other  reason  for  this 
opinion  than  the  fact  that  leavened,  i.  e.,  ferment- 
ed bread  was  prohibited — a  prohibition  the  sole 
object  of  which  was  to  remind  the  Jews  of  the 
haste  of  the  original  passover.  Paul's  language 
in  1  Cor.  11  :  31  (see  note  there)  makes  it  evident  that 
fermented  wine  was  used  by  the  primitive  church 
in  the  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  ;  and 
the  Rabbinical  rule,  requiring  water  to  be  mixed 
with  the  wine  at  the  paschal  feast  (see  Lightfoot  on 
Matt.  26 :  27),  Icst  drunkenness  should  disgrace  it, 
makes  it  equally  evident  that  Mine  was  used  in 
the  original  O.  T.  festival.  There  is  nothing  in 
the  language  of  the  N.  T.  to  indicate  any  dis- 
crimination between  fermented  and  unfermented 
wines ;  Christ  himself  never  directly  or  indirectly 
discriminates  between  them ;  neither  do  any  of 
his  apostles ;  and  it  is  apparently  indicated  if 
not  necessarily  implied  in  the  account  here,  and 
in  other  passages,  that  it  was  the  ordinary  fer- 
mented wine  which  Christ  employed ;  see  espe- 
cially Matt.  11  :  19,  "Behold  a  glutton  and  a 
wine-bibber,"  and  Matt.  9  :  17,  "No  man  having 
drunk  old  {fennentcd)  wine,  straightway  desireth 
new  {that  of  the  last  vintage  and  unfeDnentcd,  for 
he  saith  the  old  is  better."  The  language  of 
Mark  14  :  25,  "  I  will  drink  no  more  of  the  fruit 
of  the  vine,"  etc.,  plainly  implies  that  he  had 
been  accustomed  to  drink  it  freely  and  as  a  bev- 
erage with  his  followers.  I  judge  then  that 
Christ  here  made,  and  throughout  his  life  ordi- 
narily used,  fermented  wine ;  and  this  is  the 
nearly  unanimous  judgment  of  the  best  unprej- 
udiced Biblical  scholars.  The  opposite  opinion 
is  of  later  origin,  an  after-thought,  the  product 
not  of  impartial  Biblical  research,  but  of  the  tem- 


perance reformation.  (2)  S'ujnificancc  of  these  facts. 
It  appears  to  me  clear,  in  the  light  of  these  facts, 
that  neither  Christ's  precept  nor  his  example  can 
be  cited  in  favor  of  the  doctrine  of  total  absti- 
nence, as  a  universal  and  permanent  obligation 
from  all  use  of  wine,  even  as  a  beverage  ;  that  it 
rather  indicates  that  he  recognizes  the  right  and 
propriety  of  so  using  it ;  and  that  the  doctrine 
and  practice  of  total  abstinence  must  be  main- 
tained, if  at  all,  not  by  any  specific  precept,  nor 
by  the  general  course  of  Christ's  life,  but  from 
local  and  perhaps  temporary  considerations,  and 
solely  on  the  ground  that  the  Christian  must 
always  be  willing  to  surrender  a  lawful  gratifica- 
tion for  the  sake  of  a  higher  good,  either  to  him- 
self or  to  others  (.Matt.  5  :  29,  30 ;  Rom.  14  :  21 ;  1  Cor.  6  :  12). 

It  is  equally  clear  that  neither  Christ's  precepts 
nor  his  example  justifies  the  ordinary  drinking 
usages  of  American  society  of  to-day,  with  its 
bars,  its  wine-shops,  its  beer-gardens,  its  fiery 
wines  and  strong  liquors,  and  aU  its  attendant 
evils.  The  ordinary  Avine  of  to-day  is  a  veiy  dif- 
ferent article  from  that  in  Christ's  daj*.  The 
word  is  the  same,  the  thing  is  different.  And  the 
usages  are  equally  different.  It  is  not  my  prov- 
ince here  to  enter  into  a  general  discussion  of  the 
temperance  question,  or  even  of  the  Bible  teach- 
ing on  the  subject ;  but  for  the  convenience  of 
the  student  I  add,  from  my  Dictio7iar>j  of  Religious 
Knowledge,  a  tabular  view  of  the  principal  Bible 
passages  which  bear  on  the  subject,  either  for  or 
against  the  use  of  wines. 

THE    BIBLE 

Condemns  Wine  : 


Commends  Wine  : 
As  an  offemng  to   God 
with  oil  and  wheat  : 
Numb.  18  :  12. 
Neh.  10  :  37-39. 
As  a  Messing  to  man  : 
Gen.  27  :  28-37. 
Deut.  7  :  13, 
Judges  9  :  13. 
Prov.  3  :  10. 
Isa.  65  :  8. 
Joel  3  :  18. 
Ps.  104  :  15. 
Zech.  9  :  17. 
As  an  emblem  of  spirit- 
val  blessing  : 

Isa.  55  :  1. 
Sol.  Song  7  :  9. 
As  a  perpetual  memonal 
of  ChrisCs  atoning  sacri- 
fice: 

Matt.  26  :  26-29. 
Mark  14  :  22-25. 
1  Cor.  10  :  10. 
As  a  medicine  ; 
Prov.  31  :  6,  7. 
1  Tim.  5  :  23. 
By  the  examjile  of  Jesus 
Christ : 

John  2  : 1-11. 
Luke  7  :  34. 


As  a  cause  of  violence 
and  woe  : 

Prov.  4  :  17 ;  23  :  29-32. 
Of  self-security  and  irre- 
ligion. 

Isa.  28  :  7 ;  56  :  12 

Hab.  2  :  5. 
As  a  ixnson  ; 

Deut.  32  :  33. 

Prov.  23  :  31. 

Hosea  7  :  5. 
As  an  accompaniment  of 
wickedness  ; 

Isa.  5  :  22. 
-4s  an  emblem  of  divine 
wrath  : 

Ps.  60  :  3  ;  75  :  8. 

Isa.  51  :  17. 

Jer.  25  :  15. 

Rev.  14  :  10  ;  16  :  19. 
By  the  examjjle  of  priests 
on  entering  the  tabernacle  : 

Lev.  10  :  8-11. 
Of  Bechabifes  : 

Jer.  35  :  6. 
Of  Nazarites  : 

Numb.  6  :  2,  3. 
Of  Daniel: 

Dan.  1  :  8, 12. 


34 


JOHN. 


[Oh.  II. 


12  After  this  he  went  down  to  Capiemaum.  he,  and 
his  mother,  and  liis  bretliren,  and  his  disciples :  and 
tliey  continued  there  not  many  days. 


13  And  the  Jews'  passover''  was  at  hand,  and  Jesus  >= 
went  up  to  Jerusalem, 

14  And  found ''  in  the  temple  those  that  sold  oxen 


bEx.  12  :  14 c  Verse  23;  chap.  6:1;  6:4;  11  :  55 d  Matt.  21  :  12  ;    Mark  11  :  15  ;  Luke  19  :  45. 


Ch.  2 :  12-22.  CHRIST  CASTS  THE  TRADERS  OUT  OF 
THE  TEMPLE.  An  illustration  op  the  character 
OF  Christ. — A  symbol  of  the  work  of  .Christ. — An 

EXAMPLE  to  the  FOLLOWERS  OP  ChEIST. 

This  incident  is  narrated  only  by  Jolm.  It  is 
not  to  be  confounded  with  the  second  casting 
out  narrated  by  the  synoptists.  See  note  on 
Matt.  21  :  13,'  13.  This  occurred  at  the  first 
Passover  in  Christ's  public  ministry;  that  at  the 
last.  There  is  a  significance  ia  the  repetition. 
It  indicates  both  the  tendency  of  a  corrupt 
church  to  corruption  ia  spite  of  cleanings,  a 
truth  unhappily  abundantly  illustrated  in  his- 
tory ;  and  the  persistence  of  Christ's  zeal,  a 
quality  imperfectly  reflected  in  the  zeal  of  his 
disciples.  The  probable  date  of  this  event  was 
March,  A.  r>.  28. 

12.  Went  down  to  Capernaum.  From 
€ana,  which  was  the  hiU  country,  to  Capernaum, 
■which  was  on  the  shore  of  the  sea  of  Galilee. 
Por  description  of  Capernaum,  see  Matt.  4  :  13. 
It  would  be  on  the  natural  though  not  necessary 
route  from  Cana  to  Jerusalem.  This  visit  is  not 
to  be  confounded  with  Christ's  permanent  change 
of  residence  f  i-om  Nazareth  to  Capernaum,  which 
resulted  from  the  mob  in  the  former  city  (Luke 
4 :  28-31) ;  this  did  not  take  place  till  after  the 
imprisonment  of  John  the  Baptist  (Matt.  4  ;  12, 13). 
The  statement  that  theij  continued  not  there  many 
days,  distinguished  this  visit  from  that  perma- 
nent change  of  residence. — His  mother  and  his 
brethren  and  his  disciples.  His  public  min- 
istry had  not  yet  fully  begun ;  he  had  not, 
therefore,  yet  left  his  mother  and  brethren  to 
devote  himself  to  his  work.  That  these  were 
real  brethren,  not  cousins  or  other  relations,  I 
think  is  clear,  though  by  many  doubted.  See 
note  on  "Brethren  of  our  Lord,"  Vol,  I,  p.  187. 

13.  And  the  Jews'  Passover  Avas  at 
hand.  For  origin  of  Passover  see  Exodus, 
ch.  12 ;  for  some  account  of  its  ceremonies  see 
Matt.  26  :  26-30,  Prel.  Note.— And  Jesus  went 
up  to  Jerusalem.  Observe,  that  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  attend  the  Jewish  feasts  as  well  as  the 
synagogue  services.  The  corniption  of  the 
church  did  not  cause  his  withdrawal  from  its 
public  services  (ch.  10 ;  25). 

14.  In  the  temple.  Historically  there  were 
three  temples:  Solomon's  (1  Kings,  ch.  6, 7 ;  2  chron., 
ch.  3, 4),  the  temple  of  Zerubbabel,  constructed  at 
the  time  of  the  restoration  under  Nehemiah  (Ezra 
8  : 8-11 ;  6 : 3-5),  and  Hcrod's.  The  latter,  named 
for  its  builder,  Herod  the  Great  (Matt.  2  ■  1,  note),  is 
the  one  mentioned  here  and  elsewhere  in  the 


N.  T.  Its  site,  established  with  as  much  cer- 
tainty as  any  in  the  N.  T.,  was  a  rock  platform 
in  the  southeast  corner  of  Jerusalem,  now  occu- 
pied by  the  Mohammedan  Mosque  of  Omar.  In 
its  erection  ten  thousand  skilled  workmen  were 
employed;  among  them  one  thousand  priests 
especially  instructed  in  the  arts  of  the  stone- 
cutter and  the  carpenter.  The  result  was  a  tem- 
ple whose  architectural  magnificence  is  thought 
never  to  have  been  surpassed  in  ancient  or  mod- 
ern times.  It  was  less  a  building  than  a  collec- 
tion of  buildings,  and  covered  an  area  of  over 
nineteen  acres.  The  stone  was  white  marble,  the 
roof  cedar,  the  architecture  probably  a  combina- 
tion of  the  Greek  and  the  Roman.  On  the  east 
it  overlooked  the  valley  of  the  Cedron,  forming 


SUBSTEUCTLREb   OF    THE    TEMPLE 

an  effective  fortification.  It  also  served  as  a  de- 
fence on  the  north,  where  adjoined  the  tower  of 
Antonia,  the  barracks  of  the  Roman  soldiery. 
On  the  south  a  single  gateway,  on  the  west  four 
gateways,  gave  exit  and  entrance.  On  the  east 
it  was  connected  by  a  bridge  over  the  Tyro- 
phoean  valley  with  Mount  Zion,  the  site  of  Solo- 
mon's and  later  of  Herod's  palace.  The  remains 
of  this  bridge  have  been  lately  discovered.  The 
annexed  ground  plan,  from  Henry  Ward  Beech 
er's  "Life  of  Christ,"  will  enable  the  reader  to 
understand  the  internal  stracture  of  the  temple. 
The  illustration  in  Vol.  I,  p.  257,  wiU  give  an  idea 


36  JOHN.  [Ch.  II. 

From  "Life  of  Jesus,  the  Chrisf,"  by  iRev.  Jlen/y   Varcl  Seechei'. 


PLAN  AXD   SECTION  OF  THE  TEMPLE. 


of  its  external  appearance.  The  reader  is  there 
supposed  to  be  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  looking 
down  upon  the  temple  from  the  east ;  Mount 
Zion  with  its  palaces  and  towers  is  in  the  back- 
ground ;  the  long-roofed  structure  on  the  left, 


that  is,  the  south,  is  the  royal  cloister  or  Stoa. 
basilica.  This  is  minutely  described  by  Josephus^ 
(Ant.  15 :  11, 5).  It  cousistcd  of  a  nave  and  twO' 
aisles,  the  side  toward  the  country  being  closed 
by  a  wall,  that  toward  the  temple  proper  being, 


Ch.  II.]  JOHN. 

and  sheep  and  doves,  and  the  changers  of  money 
sitting:  ,         „  , 

15  And  when  he  had  made  a  scourge  ol  small  cords, 
he  drove  them  all  out  of  the  temple,  and  the  sheep,  and 
the  oxen ;  and  poured  out  the  changers'  money,  and 
overthrew  the  tables ; 


37 


i6  And  said  unto  them  that  sold  doves,  Take  these 
things  hence  ;  make  not  my  Father's  house  an  house 
of  merchandise. 

17  And  his  disciples  remembered  that  it  was  written ,« 
The  zeal  of  thine  house  hath  eaten  me  up. 

18  Then  answered  the  Jews  and    said    unto    him, 


e  Psulm  69  :  9. 


open.  It  was  105  feet  in  breadth,  600  feet  in 
length  ;  the  centre  aisle  was  100  feet  high,  the 
side  aisles  50.  The  roof  of  cedar  was  supported 
by  102  Corinthian  columns  of  white  marble,  the 
iloor  was  a  magnificent  mosaic.  Between  this 
cloister  and  the  temple  structure  was  the  open 
court  of  the  Gentiles.  It  was  open  to  all,  hea- 
then and  Jew  alike,  and  was  used  for  the  pur- 
pose of  social  and  intellectual  exchange,  as  well 
as  for  religious  processional  services.  Here 
Christ  (Matt.  21 :  23),  and  subsequently  his  disciples 
(Luke  24  :  53;  Acts  5 :  21,  42),  taught  the  pcoplc.  In- 
scriptions in  Greek  and  Latin  forbade  the  hea- 
then from  passing  beyond  this  court,  under 
penalty  of  death.  For  a  supposed  infringement 
of  this  law  Paul  was  mobbed  (Acts  21 :  26-30).  With- 
in were  the  successive  courts  of  the  women,  of 
Israel,  of  the  priests.  In  this  latter  was  the 
sacred  furniture  and  utensils,  the  table  of  shew- 
bread,  the  altar,  the  layer,  etc.  In  the  heart  of 
this  enclosure,  investing  all  with  a  mysterious 
saeredness,  was  the  Holy  of  Holies,  veiled  from 
even  priestly  gaze  by  the  curtain,  which  was 
subsequently  rent  in  twain  at  the  time  of  Christ's 
death  (Matt.  2: :  s;).  This  Holy  of  Holies,  90^30 
feet,  is  seen  in  the  illustration  of  the  temple  as 
restored,  in  the  centre  of  the  building ;  it  con- 
stituted the  most  prominent  feature.  It  was  in 
the  outer  court  of  the  Gentiles  that  the  sheep 
and  cattle  and  money-changers  had  gathered. 
The  scattered  Israelites  were  unable  to  bring  in 
person  the  sacrifices  for  the  altar.  The  Mosaic 
law  permitted  them  to  sell  their  first-fruits,  and 
with  the  money  purchase  their  gifts  at  Jerusa- 
lem (Deut.  14  :  24-26).  They  wcrc  also  required  to 
pay  for  the  support  of  the  temijle  service  a  half- 
shekel  (Exod.  3  :  11-16  ;  Matt.  17  :  24-27,  notes).      ThiS  mUSt 

be  paid  in  Jewish  money,  for  Gentile  coin  would 
pollute  the  sacred  coffers.  Thus,  gradually,  the 
feast-days  became  great  market-days,  as  they 
still  are  among  the  nomadic  tribes  of  the  Moham- 
medan religion.  The  priesthood,  sharing  in  the 
profits,  suffered  the  traflBckers  gradually  to  in- 
trude into  and  occupy  the  outer  court  of  the 
temple.  Thus,  not  only  were  the  religious  ser- 
vices of  the  Jews  disturbed  by  the  bleating  of 
sheep,  the  lowing  of  cattle,  the  cooing  of  doves, 
the  clangor  of  the  money-changers,  and  the  hum 
of  a  busy  market,  but  the  Gentiles  were  abso- 
lutely driven  from  all  participation  in  the  reli- 
gious benefits  of  the  temple.  To  their  exclusion 
Christ  referred  in  the  second  expulsion  (Mark 
n  :  15-19,  note).    The  priests  winked  not  only  at  the 


sacrilege,  but  also  at  the  double  defrauding  of 
God  and  man  which  accompanied  it  (Mai.  i ;  7,  s). 
The  court  of  the  Gentiles  was  worse  than  a 
market-place ;  it  was  a  den  of  thieves.  Thus 
Christ's  act  was  not  only  a  vehement  protest 
against  the  sacrilege  which  suffers  business  to 
encroach  on  the  house  and  worship  of  God,  but 
also  a  rebuke  of  the  bigotry  which  is  indifferent 
to  the  religious  wants  and  worship  of  men  not  of 
our  race,  faith,  or  companionship. — Those  that 
sold  cattle,  sheep,  and  doves.  For  sacri- 
fices under  the  Levitical  law  ;  sheep,  rams,  lambs, 
goats,  kids,  bulls,  cows,  calves,  doves,  and  spar- 
rows were  offered  for  this  purpose.  All  sacrifices 
were  required  to  be  offered  by  the  priesthood  and 
in  the  temple.  On  the  great  feast-days,  when 
the  population  of  Jerusalem  was  increased  to  a 
million  or  more,  the  traffic  must  have  been  both 
large  and  profitable. — And  the  changers  of 
money.  Money-changers  had  in  Greece  and 
Rome  their  stalls  or  tables  in  the  streets  and 
market-places  for  the  purpose  of  exchanging  the 


EASTERN  MONET-CHANGER. 

coin  of  one  nation  for  another.  The"y  are  still  to 
be  found  in  Jerusalem,  seated  by  their  little  glass 
cases,  in  which  are  saucers  of  brass  filled  with 
coins  of  silver  and  gold,  of  every  size  and  value. 

15,  16.  And  when  he  had  made  a  scourge 
of  rushes.  The  original  indicates  that  the 
scourge  was  made  of  the  rushes  which  were  used 
to  bed  the  cattle.  Christ  picked  these  up  from 
the  floor  and  wove  them  together  into  a  whip. 


38 


JOHN. 


[Oh.  II. 


What  sign'  showest  thou  unto  us,  seeing  that  thou 
doest  these  things  ? 


19  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  Destroys 
this  temple,  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up. 


f  ch.  6  :  30 ;  Matt.  12  :  38,  etc g  Matt.  26  :  61 ;  27  : « 


Of  course  this  fragile  lash  would  not  do  much 
real  execution.  It  was  used  as  one  might  use  a 
switch  to  alarm  and  so  drive  out  the  animals. 
The  original  shows  very  clearly  that  it  was  used 
for  this  purpose  alone,  and  not  to  threaten  the 
men  with  physical  chastisement. — He  drove  all 
out  of  the  temple,  both  the  sheep  and  the 
cattle.  This  is  the  correct  rendering ;  our 
English  version  is  ambiguous  and  so  misleading. 
— And  poured  out  the  changers'  money. 
Poured  it  out  upon  the  floor.  This  prevented 
their  resisting,  for  it  occupied  their  energies  to 
pick  up  and  save  the  coin. — And  said  unto 
them  that  sold  doves.  It  is  noteworthy  that 
he  drove  out  the  sheep  and  cattle,  which  the 
owners  could  reclaim  in  the  streets,  but  did  not 
set  the  doves  free,  which  would  thus  have  been 
lost  to  their  owners.  A  true  Christian  indignation 
never  blinds  to  the  true  rights  even  of  the  most 
flagrant  wrong-doers. — Make  not  my  Father's 
house  a  house  of  merchandise.  Compare 
Christ's  language  at  the  second  expulsion,  Mark 
11  :  17,  note. 

17.  And  his  disciples  remembered,  etc. 
At  the  time,  not  afterward ;  if  this  had  been 
meant  it  would  have  been  expressed,  as  in  ver. 
23.  It  is  not  here  stated  that  the  utterance  in 
Ps.  69  :  9  was  a  prophecy  which  Christ  fulfilled  ; 
simply  that  his  course  recalled  the  language 
there.  The  fact  indicates  the  vigor  and  intensity 
of  Christ's  zeal  in  the  manner  and  spirit  of  his 
action,  as  well  as  in  the  act  itself. 

This  and  the  subsequent  purification  of  the 
temple  during  the  Passion  week,  indicate  in 
Christ  a  vigor  and  intensity  of  character,  and  a 
power  of  indignation,  which  modem  thought 
rarely  attributes  to  him.  They  interpret  the 
suggestive  description  of  Christ's  personal  ap- 
pearance given  by  John  in  Rev.  1  :  13-16,  the 
only  hint  of  his  personal  appearance  afforded  by 
the  New  Testament.  We  can  imagine  that  in 
this  expulsion  his  eyes  were  as  flames  of  fire,  his 
feet  firm  in  their  tread  like  feet  of  brass,  his 
voice  as  the  sound  of  the  ocean,  his  words  as  a 
two-edged  sword.  This  indignation  was  aroused 
by  (a)  the  sacrilegious  covetousness  which  made 
God's  house  a  house  of  merchandise ;  (b)  the 
fraud  which  converted  it  into  a  den  of  thieves ; 
(c)  the  selfishness  of  the  bigotry  which  excluded 
the  heathen  from  the  only  court  reserved  for 
them.  It  should  inspire  in  his  disciples  a  like 
spirit  of  indignation  (a)  against  the  sacrilegious 
covetousness  which  converts  the  house  of  God 
into  a  mart  of  merchandise,  whether  by  the  sale 
of  indulgences,  masses,  and  prayers  to  others,  or 
by  employing  it  not  for  the  praise  of  God  but 


for  the  social  and  pecuniary  profit  of  the  pre- 
tended worshipper  ;  (6)  against  the  bigotry  which 
permits  us  to  look  with  indifference  upon  the 
exclusion  of  the  poor,  the  outcast,  the  despised 
from  the  privileges  of  God's  house.  It  is  a  type 
of  (a)  the  cleansing  which  Christ  comes  to  do  for 
every  soul,  which  is  a  temple  of  God  (i  cor.  3 :  i6), 
and  out  of  which  all  unclean  things  must  be 
driven  by  the  power  of  God,  before  it  is  fit  for 
God's  indwelling ;  (6)  the  final  cleansing  when 
he  will  come  to  cast  out  all  things  that  defile 
and  work  abomination  (Rev.  21 :  21).  Observe  that 
in  Revelation  the  world  is  represented  as  dread- 
ing "the  wrath  of  the  Lamh.''''  Christ's  example 
here  does  not  justify  the  use  of  physical  force 
by  the  church  to  cleanse  it  from  corruption ;  for 
Christ  did  not  employ  physical  force.  His  whip 
was  not  a  weapon  ;  the  power  before  which  the 
traders  fled  was  the  moral  power  of  Christ, 
strengthened  \>y  the  concurring  judgment  of 
their  own  consciences  and  the  moral  sense  of 

the  mass  of  the  people  (Mark  11  :  is,  note). 

18,  19.  What  sign  showest  thou  unto 

us  ?  What  evidence  of  authority  to  expel  from 
the  temple  practices  allowed  by  the  priesthood. 
They  questioned  not  the  right  of  an  inspired 
prophet  to  act  thus,  but  the  authority  of  Jesus 
as  a  prophet.  The  moral  power  before  which 
all  quailed  was  the  greatest  of  signs ;  but  to  that 
they  were  indifferent.  "They  required  signs 
to  be  proved  by  signs." — {Bengel.)  No  other 
authority  for  any  reformation  is  ever  required 
than  the  power  and  grace  to  achieve  it.  The 
same  question  was  repeated  at  the  second  cleans- 
ing, but  it  elicited  a  very  different  answer  (Matt. 
21 :  23). — Destroy  this  temple  and  in  three 
days  I  Avill  raise  it  up.  In  interpreting  this 
passage  observe  that  (1)  John  himself  explicitly 
declares  Christ's  meaning,  "He  spake  of  the 
temple  of  his  body"  (ver. 21);  (2)  that  not  only 
the  Jews,  who  might  have  willfully  perverted 
Christ,  misunderstood  his  meaning,  but  his  own 
followers  did  not,  till  after  his  death,  understand 
him  (ver.  22) ;  hence  (3)  the  hypothesis  that  he 
pointed  to  himself  when  he  said,  "  Destroy  this 
temple,"  is  not  only  unnecessary  but  improbable. 
The  words  are  a  prophecy,  but  are  purposely  left 
enigmatical,  to  be  interpreted  by  the  event.  The 
temple  is  itself  a  type  of  man,  who  is  intended 
to  be  the  temple  of  God,  in  which  he  will  dwell ; 
and  therefore  a  type  perfectly  fulfilled  only  in 
Christ,  in  whom  alone  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelt 
without  measure,  and  with  no  periods  of  partial 
or  complete  exclusion.  The  Jews  in  crucifying 
Christ  destroyed  the  divine  reality  of  which  the 
building  was  only  a  symbol  or  prophecy ;  more- 


Ch.  II.] 


JOHN. 


39 


20  Then  said  the  Jews,  Forty  and  six  years  was  this 
temple  in  building,  and  wilt  ttiou  rear  it  up  in  three 
days  ? 

21  But  he  spake  of  the  temple''  of  his  body. 

22  When  therefore  he  was  risen  from  the  dead,  his 
disciples  remembered  tliat  he'  had  said  ihisunto  them  : 
and  they  believed  the  scripture,  and  the  word  which 
Jesus  had  said. 


23  Now  when  he  was  in  Jerusalem  at  the  passover, 
in  the  feast  day^  many  believed  in  his  name  when  they 
saw  the  miracles  which  he  did. 

24  But  Jesus  did  not  commit  himself  unto  them, 
because  he  J  knew  all  men^ 

25  And  needed  not  that  any  should  testify  of  man: 
for  ne  knew  what  was  in  man. 


h  Epbea.  2  :  21,  22;  Col.  2:9;  Heb.  8:2 i  Luke  24  :  8 j  ch.  16  :  30:  1  Sam.  16  ;  7;  1  Chron.  28  :  9  ;  29  :  17  ;  Jer.  17:  9,  10:  Matt.  9:4- 

Acts  1  :  24  ;   Rev.  2  :  23. 


over  they  inaugurated  that  terrible  drama  of 
passion  which  ended  in  the  literal  destruction 
of  the  temple  itself.  For  description  of  this 
destruction  see  Matt.  ch.  24,  Prel.  Note.  Some 
objections  to  this  passage  have  been  suggested. 
(1)  Tlie  crucifixion  of  Christ  and  his  resurrection 
taking  place  three  years  later  cannot  be  a  sign  of 
his  authority  here.  Ans.  In  fact  Christ  does  not 
comply  with  the  Pharisees'  demand  for  a  sign 
but  refuses  it,  as  in  the  analogous  passage  in 
Matt.  12 :  34-40,  where  he  also  by  a  metaphor 
refers  to  his  resurrection.  (3)  The  prophecy 
would  not  be  and  in  fact  was  not  understood.  Ans. 
It  was  not  intended  to  be  understood  then,  but 
to  afford  a  basis  for  the  faith  of  the  disciples 
when  subsequent  history  had  interpreted  it.  It 
was  an  enigma  more  likely  to  be  remembered 
because  enigmatical,  "Many  such  sayings  he 
uttered  which  were  not  intelligible  to  his  imme- 
diate hearers,  but  which  were  to  be  so  to  those 
who  should  come  after.  And  wherefore  doth 
he  do  this  ?  In  order  that  when  the  accomplish- 
ment of  his  predictions  should  have  come  to 
pass,  he  might  be  seen  to  have  foreknown  from 
the  beginning  what  was  to  follow." — {Chrysos- 
tom.)  (3)  The  language  is  imperative  and  thus 
involves  a  camtnand  by  ChHst  to  crucify  him.  Ans. 
The  imperative,  Destroy  this  temple,  is  not  equiva- 
lent to  the  future.  You  will  destroy  this  temple  ; 
nor  is  it  permissive  merely,  You  may  destroy 
this  temple  ;  nor  yet  is  it  a  command,  You  must 
destroy  this  temple.  It  is  a  challenge.  Destroy 
this  temple,  and  I  will  raise  it  up.  "  It  springs 
from  painfully  excited  feelings,  as  he  looks  with 
heart-searching  gaze  upon  that  implacable  op- 
position which  was  already  beginning  to  show 
itself,  and  which  would  not  be  satisfied  till  it 
had  put  him  to  death." — {3Ieyer.)  (4)  The  lan- 
guage, I  will  raise  it  up,  imputes  to  Christ  the 
power  of  the  resurrection  which  is  uniformly 
attributed  to  the  Father.  Ans.  This  objection 
is  founded  on  a  misapprehension.  The  N.  T. 
recognizes  no  such  distinction  between  the 
Father  and  the  Son  as  this  objection  implies, 
and  Christ  uses  language  elsewhere,  as  distinctly 
implying  his  own  act  in  the  resurrection  as  that 

used   here   (ch.  lO  :  18  ;    ll  :  25  ;   comp.  5  :  39,  -40,  «).      The 

interpretation  proposed  by  some  writers,  that 
Christ  here  speaks  of  the  decay  of  the  Jewish 
religion  in  its  temple,  and  the  building  up  of  a 
new  spiritual  theocracy,  will  not  be  accepted  by 


those  who  believe  that  John's  explicit  declara- 
tion of  Christ's  meaning  is  inspired  and  authori- 
tative. Observe  how  the  Jews  intentionally 
misrepresented  Christ's  saying ;  they  accused 
him  of  threatening  to  destroy  the  temple  (Matt. 
26 :  61,  note),  whcu  he  had  really  prophesied  that 
they  would  destroy  it. 

20.  Forty  and  six  years  Avas  this  tem- 
ple in  building.  The  argument  is  a  natural 
one,  and  seemed  conclusive.  The  temple  was 
commenced  by  Herod  twenty  years  previous  to 
the  birth  of  Christ,  and  had  been  forty-six  years 
in  construction  up  to  this  time.  It  was  not 
finally  completed,  however,  till  a.  d.  64,  under 
Herod  Agrippa  II ;  so  that  it  was  really  over 
eight}'  years  in  buUding.  The  workmen  were  at 
this  time  still  engaged  upon  it,  and  the  language 
of  the  people  refers  to  the  work  up  to  this  time. 

23,  When  therefore  he  was  risen  from 
the  dead.  Not  merely  after  but  at  the  time  of 
his  resurrection  and  in  the  light  of  that  fact, 
the  disciples  interpreted  both  what  he  had  said 
and  what  the  O.  T.  contained  on  this  subject. — 
They  believed  the  Scripture.  Not  the 
N.  T.,  no  part  of  which  was  written  at  the  time 
of  the  resurrection  ;  and  the  "Scripture  "  is  here 
distinguished  from  the  words  which  Jesus  had 
spoken.  The  O.  T.  contained  prophecies  of  the 
resurrection  which  are  enigmatical,  and  probably 
were  but  imperfectly  comprehended  by  even  the 
most  devout  Jews,  but  which  were  interpreted 

by  the  event  (Ps.  le  :  4  with  Acts  3  :  15  ;  Ps.  n  :  15  ;  73  :  23, 
24  ;  Isaiah  26  :  19  ;  Hosea  6  :  2).    For  CVidenCC  that  Christ, 

and  subsequently  the  apostles,  recognized  in  the 
O.  T.  prophecies  of  the  resurrection,  see  Luke 
24  :  26,  27  ;  John  20  :  9 ;  1  Cor.  15  : 4. 

23-25.  Many  trusted  in  his  name,  see- 
ing the  signs  which  he  wrought,  but 
Christ  did  not  entrust  himself  to  them, 
because  he  knew  all  men  and  needed 
not,  etc.  Compare  with  the  English  version 
the  translation  here  given  which  approximates 
more  nearly  to  the  original ;  and  observe  re- 
specting this  that  (1)  the  term  miracle  has 
acquired  in  modem  theology  a  technical  mean- 
ing it  does  not  possess  in  the  N.  T.  Christ  may 
have  wrought  miracles  at  this  time  not  recorded 
by  the  Evangelist  (ch.  21, 25),  but  the  belief  of  the 
Jewish  disciples  may  have  rested  on  such  signs 
of  his  moral  power  as  the  expulsion  of  the 
traders  from  the  temple ;   (2)  their  trust  in  his 


40 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  III. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THERE  was  a  man  of  the  Pharisees,  named  Nico- 
demus,''  a  ruler  of  the  Jews : 
2  The  same  came  to  Jesus  by  night,  and  said  unto 


him,  Rabbi,  we  know  that  thou  art  a  teacher  come 
from  God,  for'  no  man  can  do  these  miracles  that  thou 
doest,  except  God  ™  be  with  him. 

3  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him.  Verily,  verily, 
I  say  unto  thee.  Except "  a  man  be  born  again,  he  can- 
not see  the  kingdom  of  God. 


kch.  7  :  50,  51;  19  :  39 1  ch.  9  :  16,  33;  Acts  2  :  22 m  Acts  10  ;  38 n  ch.  1  :  13;  Gal.  6  :  15;  Eph.  2:1;  Til.  3  :  5:  James  1  :  18  ; 

1  Peter  1  :  23  ;  1  John  2  :  29  ;  3  :  9. 


name  was  not  necessarily  a  true  spiritual  accept- 
ance of  him  as  a  personal  Saviour  from  sin ;  the 
reverse  is  implied  by  the  statement  that  they 
trusted  him  because  tJiey  saw  his  miracles;  and 
still  more  by  the  declaration  respecting  himself 
that  he  did  not  entrust  himself  to  them  ;  (3)  this 
declaration  would  scarcely  need  interpretation 
were  it  not  for  a  common  misinterpretation.  It 
does  not  imply  that  he  held  back  from  them  his 
doctrine,  or  refused  to  work  miracles  for  their 
benefit,  but  simply  that  he  did  not  and  could 
not  enter  into  that  close  and  unreserved  per- 
sonal Latercourse  with  them  which  characterized 
his  Galilean  life  and  companionships.  He  knew 
them  too  well  to  do  this ;  knew  that  when  the 
spiritual  and  universal  nature  of  his  kingdom  of 
love  was  revealed  unto  them,  they  would  reject 
and  crucify  him.  The  statement  that  he  knew 
what  was  «i  man,  indicates  a  divine  and  super- 
natural reading  of  the  secrets  of  the  human 
heart,   of   which  the   N.   T.   affords  many  and 

striking  illustrations  (Matt.  9:4;  Mark  2:8;  Luke  7  :  39, 

4o).  The  declaration  that  he  knew  all  men, 
Indicates  that  this  interior  knowledge  of  the 
heart  was  not  occasional  and  exceptional,  but 
universal.  Melancthon  sees  in  the  example  of  our 
Lord  here  an  admonition  of  caution  in  opening  our 
hearts  unreservedly  to  strangers,  even  though 
they  may  seem  to  receive  our  word  with  kind- 
ness.   Be  friendly  to  all,  be  intimate  with  few. 


Ch.  3  :  1-21.    CHRIST'S  CONVERSATION  WITH  NICODE- 
MUS.— The  argument  from  miracles:  its  strength 

AND  its  weakness  ILLUSTRATED  (verSB  2). — CHRIST 
MORE  THAN  A  TEACHER,  A  LiFE-GIVER  ;  CHRISTIANITY 
MORE  THAN  A  SYSTEM  OF  TRUTH,  A  NEW  LIFE.— ThE 
CONDITION  OP  SPIRITUAL  KNOWLEDGE,  A  NEW  SPIRIT- 
UAL LIFE. — The    SPIRIT    OP  SKEPTICISM    ILLUSTRATED 

(verse  4). — The  true  method  op  answering  skep- 
ticism, NOT  BY  ARGUMENT,  BUT  BY  PERSONAL  ASSURED 

CONVICTION  (verse  5). — The  two  conditions  op  en- 
tering Christ's  kingdom:  a  new  spiritual  life, 
and  a  public  confession  op  Christ  (verse  5\— Like 
begets  like. — The  known  and  the  unknown  in 
theology  (verses  8,  11) :  the  known,  what  takes 
place  on  earth  ;  the  unknown,  what  takes  place 
in  heaven.— The  ignorance  op  the  wise  ;  he  istf^o 

MASTER  WHO  HAS  NO  PERSONAL  KNOWLEDGE  OP  THE 
NEW  BIRTH.— The  POWER  OP  SALVATION  :   A  CRUCIFIED 

Christ;  the  condition  of  salvation:  faith  in 
IIiM ;  THE  condemnation  of  sinners  :  their  love 
OP  darkness  and  rejection  op  the  light. 

Christ's  interview  with  Nicodemus  is  described 
only  by  John.    It  occurred  immediately  after  the 


events  described  in  the  preceding  chapter,  and 
before  Christ  had  inaugurated  hife  missionary 
labors,  which  he  did  not  begin  till  the  imprison- 
ment of  John  the  Baptist  (Mark  i  :  u).  In  study- 
ing this  passage,  the  following  considerations 
will  prevent  the  student  from  falling  into  the 
perplexities  and  errors  into  which  some  learned 
and  orthodox  commentators  have  fallen.  (1)  The 
conversation  was  had  at  the  commencement  of 
Christ's  ministry,  before  he  had  explained,  even 
to  his  own  disciples,  the  principles  of  his  king- 
dom ;  we  cannot  therefore  safely  assume  that 
Nicodemus  was  familiar  with  those  principles, 
nor  can  we  interpret  Christ's  teachings  here  by 
the  later  apostolic  teaching,  except  in  so  far  as 
that  was  developed  from  this  as  from  a  germ. 
(2)  Nicodemus  was  a  Pharisee,  therefore  a  for- 
malist, and  pre-eminently  a  Jew.  We  may  safely 
assume  that  Christ's  object  was  in  part  to  correct 
Jewish  and  Pharisaic  errors,  and  our  first  object 
must  be  to  understand,  if  we  can,  Nicodemus' 
understanding  of  our  Lord.  (3)  There  is  no  evi- 
dence that  John  was  present  at  this  interview; 
and  it  is  not  probable  that  we  have  a  full  verba- 
tim report  of  it.  The  structure  of  the  narrative 
indicates  that  only  so  much  of  the  conversation 
is  reported  as  was  necessary  to  make  clear  Christ's 
discourse  founded  thereon. 

1.  There  was  a  man  of  the  Pharisees 
named  Nicodemus.  Of  Nicodemus  nothing 
is  known  except  what  John  tells  us.  He  is  not 
mentioned  by  the  other  Evangelists ;  and  subse- 
quent traditions  are  untrustworthy.  There  is  a 
Nicodemus  referred  to  in  the  Talmud  ;  but  there 
is  nothing  to  identify  him  with  this  one,  for  the 
name  was  common  among  the  Jews.  The  only 
incidents  related  of  him  are  this  conference,  his 
protest  against  condemning  Jesus  unheard  (ch.  7 : 
50-52),  and  his  participation  wath  Joseph  of  Ari- 
mathea  in  the  burial  of  Jesus  (ch.  19 :  39).  There  is 
a  spurious  Gospel  of  Nicodemus,  the  author  of 
which  is,  however,  unknown.  The  designation 
of  him  here  as  a  rulei-  of  the  Jews  indicates  that  he 
was  one  of  the  Sanhedrim,  and  this  indication  is 
confirmed  by  ch.  7  :  50.  On  the  character  of  the 
Pharisees,  see  Matt.  3  :  7,  note.  Among  them 
there  were  some  pure  and  honest  souls,  sincere 
but  not  courageous  seekers  after  the  truth  (Mark 

12  :  28-34  ;    15  :  43 ;   Acts  5  :  34-39  ;    15  :  5  ;  Phil.  3:5);   tO  tllis 

class  of  the  Pharisees  Nicodemus  seems  to  have 
belonged. 

2.  The  same  came  to  Jesus  by  night* 


Ch.  III.] 


JOHN. 


41 


4  Nicodemus  saith  unto  him.  How  can  a  man  be 
born  when  lie  is  old?  can  he  enter  the  second  time 
into  his  mother's  womb,  and  be  born? 


5  Jesus  answered,  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee. 
Except  a  man  be  bornot  water"  and  of  the  Spirit,^  he 
cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 


JS....P  Rom.  8:2;  1  Cor.  i  : 


Why  hy  niqht?  The  reason  generally  assumed  is 
fear  of  the  Jews  ;  but  this  is  uot  asserted  by  the 
Evangelist,  aud  at  this  time  there  had  not  been 
developed  any  pronouueed  hostility  on  the  part 
of  the  Judeaus  to  Jesus.  Nicodemus  may  have 
had  a  natural  reluctance  to  commit  himself  to  an 
unknown  Rabbi,  till  he  had  learned  more  of  his 


A   MODERN   JEWISH  KABBI. 

doctrine  ;  he  may  have  simply  sought  a  quiet  and 
personal  conversation,  such  as  he  could  not  ob- 
tain in  the  busy  day-time. — Rabbi,  Ave  know 
that  thou  art  a  teacher.  The  plural  is  not 
used  here  for  the  singular  number  ;  Nicodemus 
expresses  not  merely  his  own  personal  conviction, 
but  that  of  the  Pharisees  as  a  class.  That  they 
did,  even  much  later,  recognize  Christ's  super- 
human character  and  mission  is  clear  from  such 
passages  as  Matt.  r3  :  2'3,  24 ;  John  9:  29-3-1  •, 
11  :  47,  and  this  even  when  they  resisted  him 
most  bitterly. — For  no  man  can  do  these 
miracles,  etc.  This  is  the  argument  from  mir- 
acles put  in  the  tersest  possible  form.  Comp. 
Acts  4  :  16,  17.  And  this  is  all  that  miracles 
prove,  namely,  the  commission  and  authority  of 
Christ ;  they  do  not  of  themselves  show  his  char- 
acter. Nicodemus  then  regards  Christ  as  a 
prophet  sent  from  God ;  and  John,  who  in  ch.  1 : 6, 
etc.,  has  drawn  clearly  the  distinction  between 
the  prophet  and  the  Light  and  Life,  reports  in 
this  conversation  with  Nicodemus  a  discourse  of 
Christ  in  which  he  emphasizes  the  same  distinc- 
tion. Nicodemus  impliedly  asks  to  know  what 
7WW  doctrine  Christ  has  to  teach ;  Christ  replies 


in  substance  that  the  world  needs  not  new  doc- 
trine, but  netv  life.  The  key  to  the  understand- 
ing of  this  conversation  is  the  contrast  between 
the  two  conceptions  of  religion,  as  a  system  of 
doctrine,  and  as  a  new  aud  spiritual  life. 

3.  Verily,  verily.  With  Christ  these  words 
are  a  common  precursor  of  any  especially  weighty 
aud  solemn  declaration  (Matt.  5  :  is,  note). — Except 
a  man  be  begotten  anew,  he  cannot  see 
the  kingdom  of"  God.  On  the  meaning  of  this 
sentence,  it  is  to  be  observed  that,  (,1)  The  word 
(ytiiutti)  here  rendered  in  our  English  version 
born,  more  properly  signifies  the  act  of  begetting. 
Here  therefore  Christ's  language  carries  Nicode- 
mus back  to  the  very  beginning  of  life.  (3)  The 
word  (uicu^fi)  rendered  here  in  our  English  ver- 
sion again,  is  certainly  mistranslated.  It  means 
either  a?iew,  i.  e.,from  the  beginning  or  from  above. 
Both  meanings  are  attached  to  it  here  by  the  best 
scholars.  According  to  the  first  definition,  Chiist 
simply  implies  that  the  life  must  begin  anew, 
that  the  character  must  be  rebuilt  from  the  foun- 
dation, without  however  implying  how  ;  accord- 
mg  to  the  other  idea,  he  indicates  in  the  use  of 
this  word  not  only  a  new  but  a  spiritual  and 
divine  birth.  The  word  is  used  in  the  first  sense 
in  Luke  1  :  3,  where  it  is  rendered  from  the  very 
first ;  in  the  second  sense  in  James  1 :  17 ;  3  :  15, 
17,  where  it  is  rendered  from  above.  It  is  clear 
that  Nicodemus  understood  it  in  the  former 
sense  merely,  aud  therefore  I  have  so  rendered  it 
here.  (3)  The  word  rendered  see  (icStn)  is  not 
equivalent  to  enter  into  (iiat?.9iir),  as  Meyer  in- 
terprets it.  The  declaration  is  explicit  that  a 
new  spiritual  life  is  necessary,  not  only  to  enter 
into  but  even  to  form  any  correct  conception  of 
the  kingdom  of  God.  And  with  this  agrees  the 
teaching  of  Christ  elsewhere  (Matt,  is:  u,  is),  and 
of  Paul  (i  Cor.  2 : 9, 14,  lo).  Chfist  thus  dcclarcs  to 
Nicodemus  that  he  cannot  even  understand  the 
spiritual  teachings  of  the  new  religion  without 
first  beginning  a  new  life.  In  other  words,  a  new 
spiritual  life  is  the  condition  precedent  to  a  correct 
spiritual  apprehension  of  Christ's  teaching.  It  is 
further  to  be  observed  that  light  is  thrown  on 
the  meaning  of  this  declaration  by  a  considera- 
tion of  previous  Rabbinical  and  of  later  Apostolic 
teaching.  The  new  birth  was  a  familiar  meta- 
phor with  the  Rabbis.  They  held  that  a  GentUe 
in  becoming  a  Jewish  proselyte,  and  submitting 
to  circumcision  aud  baptism,  was  born  again. 
Old  things  passed  away  ;  all  things  became  new; 
it  was  even  maintained  that  the  proselyte  might 
marry  his  nearest  kin  without  offence,  because 
the  old  relationships  were  annulled  by  his  new 


43 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  hi. 


6  That  1  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh  ;  and  that  | 
which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit. 

7  Marvel  not  that  I  said  unto  thee,  Ye  must  be  bom 
again. 


8  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou 
hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it 
Cometh,  and  whither  it  goeth  :  so '  is  every  one  that  is 
born  of  the  Spirit 


q  1  Cor.  15  :  47,  49  j  2  Cor.  5  :  17. . .  .r  1  Cor.  2  :  11. 


birth.  Christ  employs  this  metaphor,  familiar 
to  the  Jewish  Rabbi,  without  interprettngj  it, 
and  declares  that  no  man,  Jew  or  Gentile,  could 
see  the  kingdom  of  God  without  undergoing  a 
change  as  radical.  This  truth,  that  a  man  may 
bury  his  old  life  and  begin  a  new  one,  with  some- 
thing of  the  freshness  and  hope  of  youth,  is  also 
foreshadowed  in  the  O.  T.  (isa.  i  :  is,  19 ;  Jer.  31 :  33 ; 
Ezek.  11 :  19, 20 ;  36 :  26),  and  Underlies  the  teaching  of 

the  N.  T.  (Rom.  6:8;  8:3;  12:2;  2  Cor.  5:17;  Gal.  6:15; 
Ephes.  2:1-8;  Col.  3:9,  10 ;  Titus  3:6);   and  the  metaphor 

itself  frequently  occurs  in  the  teaching  of  the 

apostles  (Rom.  8:15;  James  1  :  18 ;  1  Pet.  1  :  3  ;  1  John  3  :  9). 

4.  How  can  a  man  be  born  Avhen  he  is 

old  ?  It  seems  to  me  clear  that  this  question  is 
asked  in  a  spirit  of  irony.  So  Godet,  Alford, 
Luther,  and  others.  Considering  that  the  meta- 
phor was  a  common  one,  as  Lightfoot  has  shown, 
and  that  the  doctrine  of  a  new  life  inspired  from 
God  could  not  have  been  unknown  to  any  devout 

student  of  the  O.  T.  (see  references  above),  it  iS  hardly 

possible  to  suppose  that  Nicodcmus  took  Christ 
literally.  This  is  however  Meyer's  interpretation 
of  the  question  ;  but  it  represents  Nicodemus  as 
not  only  "  a  somewhat  narrow-minded  man,"  but 
also  as  a  grossly  ignorant  and  stupid  one  ;  and 
so,  in  truth,  Meyer  represents  him  throughout. 

In  the  following  verses  (5-3),  Christ  answers 
Nicodemus'  threefold  question :  first,  by  simply 
reasserting  his  declaration  that  no  man  can  see 
the  kingdom  of  God  unless  he  is  born  anew ; 
second,  by  declaring  the  nature  of  this  new  birth, 
as  the  commencement  of  a  new  spiritual  life,  not 
of  a  new  physical  or  fleshly  life;  and  third,  by 
borrowing  an  illustration  from  nature  to  indicate 
the  degree  of  knowledge  attainable  by  man  on 
this  subject ;  he  can  perceive  the  results  of  the 
operations  of  the  spirit  of  God,  but  he  cannot 
trace  them  to  their  source  nor  comprehend  their 
laws. 

5.  Born  of  water  and  of  Spirit.  Govern- 
ing ourselves  by  the  cardinal  canon,  that  we  are 
to  understand  Christ  as  Christ  expected  his 
auditor  to  understand  him,  it  cannot  be  difficult 
to  understand  this  declaration.  The  Jewish 
proselyte,  as  a  sign  that  he  put  off  his  old  faiths, 
was  baptized  on  entering  the  Jewish  church, 
John  the  Baptist,  employing  the  same  symbolic 
rite,  baptized  Jew  as  well  as  Gentile,  as  a  sign  of 
purification  by  repentance  from  past  sins.  The 
Sanhedrim  were  familiar  with  his  baptism,  and 
had  sent  a  delegation  to  inquire  into  it  (ch.  1 :  19, 
ss),  and  he  had  told  them  prophetically  of  the 
baptism  of  the  Spirit  which  Christ  would  inaugu- 


rate. Nicodemus  then  would  certainly  have  un- 
derstood by  Christ's  expression,  "born  of  water," 
a  reference  to  this  rite  of  baptism,  and  by  the 
expression,  "bom  of  the  Spirit,"  a  reference  to 
a  new  spiritual  life,  which  however  he  could 
have  only  imperfectly  apprehended.  The  decla- 
ration then  is  that  no  man  can  enter  the  kingdom 
of  God  except  by  (1)  a  public  acknowledgment 
and  confession  of  sin,  a  public  putting  off  of  the 
old  man  and  entering  into  the  new ;  and  (2)  a  real 
and  vital  change  of  life  and  character  wrought 
by  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  heart  of  the  believer. 
By  the  one  act  he  enters  into  the  visible  and  ex- 
ternal kingdom  ;  by  the  other,  into  the  spiritual 
and  invisible  kingdom.  That  a  public  confession 
and  consecration  is  essential  is  clearly  indicated 
elsewhere  in  Christ's  teaching  (Matt.  10  :  32, 33). 
Observe  the  difference  in  phraseology  here  and 
in  verse  8.  He  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God, 
except  his  eyes  are  opened  by  the  Spirit  of  God  ;, 
he  cannot  enter  it,  except  by  a  public  and  com- 
plete abandonment  of  the  old  and  a  spiritual 
consecration  to  the  new  life  (2  Cor.  5 :  14-16). 

G.  That  which  is  born  of  flesh  is  flesh. 
The  connection  is  this :  even  if  a  man  Avhen  he  i& 
old  could  enter  again  his  mother's  womb  and  be 
born,  it  would  avail  nothing ;  that  •which  is  bom 
of  flesh  is  always  flesh  ;  only  that  which  is  born 
of  the  Spirit  partakes  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  (comp. 
Rom.  8  :  6-9.)  The  declaration  here,  coupled  with 
John's  explicit  declaration  in  ch.  1  :  14,  that  the 
Word  was  made  flesh,  implies  that  the  birth  of 
Jesus  was  supernatural,  though  he  narrates  none 
of  the  circumstances  of  that  birth. 

7.  Marvel  not  that  I  said  unto  thee,  Ye 
must  be  born  again.  The  original,  by  its  con- 
struction, puts  an  emphasis  on  the  word  ye.  And 
it  was  this  which  surprised  Nicodemus ;  not  that 
men  must  be  bom  again,  but  that  this  necessity 
was  laid  on  him,  a  child  of  Abraham,  and  an  hon- 
ored ruler  and  teacher  among  the  Jews.  Observe 
too  that  he  says  ye,  not  tve.  "The  Lord  did  not, 
could  not  say  this  of  Himself.  Why  ?  Because, 
in  the  full  sense  in  which  the  flesh  is  incapaci- 
tated from  entering  the  kingdom  of  God,  He  was 
not  bom  of  the  flesh.  He  inherited  the  weakness 
of  the  flesh,  but  his  spirit  was  not  like  that  of 
sinful  man,  alien  from  holiness  and  God,  and 
therefore  on  Him  no  sentence  hath  passed ;  when 
the  Holy  Spirit  descended  on  Him  at  His  baptism, 
the  words  spoken  by  the  Father  were  indicative 
of  past  approval,  not  of  renewal.  His  obedience 
was  accepted  as  perfect,  and  the  good  pleasure 
of  the  Father  rested  on  Him.     Therefore  He  in- 


(^H.  III.] 


JOHN. 


43 


9  Nicodemus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  How  can 
these  tilings  be  ? 

10  Jesus  answered  and  said  tinto  him,  Art  thou  a 
master  of  Israel,  and  knowest  not  tliese  things? 

11  V^erily,  verily,  I  sav  unto  thee,  We»  speak  that 
we  do  know,  and  testify  that  we  have  seen ;  and  ye 
receive  not  our  witness. 


12  If  I  have  told  you  earthly  things,  and  ye  believe 
not,  how  shall  ye  believe  if  1  tell  you  of  heavenly 
things  ? 

13  And'  no  man  hath  ascended  up  to  heaven,  but  he 
that  came  down  from  heaven,  even  the  Son  of  man 
which  is  in  heaven. 

14  And   as"    Moses   lifted    up    the   serpent   in   the 


3  1  John  1  :  1-3. . .  .t  Eph.  4  :  9,  10. . .  .u  Nuuib.  21:9. 


eludes  not  himself  in  this  necessity  for  the  new 
birth,"— (4?/ord.) 

8.  It  is  very  difficult  to  convey  the  exact  mean- 
ing of  the  original  of  this  verse  ;  for  in  the  origi- 
nal the  same  word  signifies  wind  and  spirit;  there 
is  thus  a  verbal  felicity  in  the  metaphor,  a  certain 
play  upon  the  word  itself,  which  cannot  be  trans- 
ferred from  the  Greek  into  another  language. 
As  in  nature  we  see  the  operation  of  the  summer 
breeze,  that  comes  we  know  not  whence,  and 
goes  we  know  not  whither,  so  in  the  kingdom  of 
grace  we  see  the  effects  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  in 
changes  wrought  in  the  individual  character  and 
in  the  community  (oai.  s :  22),  but  are  unable  to 
comprehend  the  nature  of  the  influence  or  the 
laws  according  to  which  it  operates.  Christ 
by  this  metaphor  certainly  indicates  something 
more  than  the  mere  incomprehensibleness  of  the 
Spirit's  work  (comp.  Ecdes.  11 : 5) ;  he  indicates  also 
the  realm  in  which  we  are  to  conduct  our  inves- 
tigations, and  that  from  which,  by  the  nature  of 
the  case,  we  are  excluded.  We  can  study  to  ad- 
vantage the  7-esults  of  the  Spirit's  operations ;  but 
all  endeavors  to  know  how  He  operates,  what  are 
the  occult  laws  of  His  being  and  work,  are  in 
vain.  A  humble  acceptance  of  this  teaching 
would  eliminate  many  useless  discussions  from 
theology.  Alford  notices  that  the  Greek  word 
used  for  wind  {nvivau)  indicates  the  gentle  breath 
of  summer,  not  the  violent  gale.  "It  is  one  of 
those  sudden  breezes  springing  up  on  a  calm  day, 
which  has  no  apparent  direction,  but  we  hear  it 
rustling  in  the  leaves  around."  Observe  also  in 
the  language,  where  it  li.steth,  an  indication  of  the 
fact  that  the  divine  operations  are  free,  uncon- 
strained, and  not  answerable  to  man,  nor  subject 
to  his  control.     Comp.  Rom.  9  : 1.5,  1(5. 

9,  10.  Nicodemus  answered,  ....  how 
can  these  things  be  ?  He  is  sobered  by  the 
moral  power  and  earnestness  of  the  Lord,  lays 
aside  cavilling,  and  asks  seriously  for  clearer  light. 
For  similar  effect  of  Christ's  personal  power  on  a 
skeptical  nature,  compare  his  conference  with 
the  Samaritan  woman  (ch.  4  =  11  with  25),  and  with 
Pilate  (ch.  18 :  33-38  with  19 : 9-12) ;  compars  also  ac- 
count of  Paul  before  Festus  and  Agi-ippa  (Acts  26 : 
31, 32).  Observe  that  Christ  does  not  overcome 
Nicodemus'  skepticism  by  arguing  against  his 
objections,  but  by  the  mere  power  of  his  own 
personal  assurance  of  the  truth. — Thou  art  the 
teacherof  Israel ;  anddost  thou  not  know 
these  things  ?    There  is  certainly  in  this  decla- 


ration and  question  a  touch  of  irony  and  of  re- 
buke. The  necessity  of  a  radical  change  of  heart 
and  life,  for  Israelite  as  well  as  Gentile,  is  abun- 
dantly taught  by  the  O.  T.  (see  ver.  3,  note,  for  referencee)  ; 

Nicodemus,  as  a  professional  teacher  of  the  reli- 
gion of  the  O.  T.,  ought  not  to  have  been  sur- 
prised at  Christ's  reiteration  of  the  truth  ;  and 
the  less  because  the  doctrine  of  a  new  birth  and 
a  public  baptism  as  a  symbol  of  it  were  taught  by 
the  Rabbis  to  the  Gentiles.  The  language  here, 
7%e  teacher  of  Israel  (0  diduayako;)  indicates  that 
Nicodemus  was  a  well-known  teacher;  perhaps 
that  he  prided  himself  on  his  pre-eminence. 

11,  12.  We  speak  that  we  do  knoAV,  etc. 
Christ  has  spoken  hitherto  only  of  that  which 
is  matter  of  common  observation,  viz.,  man's 
need  of  a  new  and  divine  life,  and  the  apparent 
results  of  it  in  character  and  conduct.  He  now 
speaks  of  that  which  is  matter  of  personal  expe- 
rience with  Him,  the  new  life  in  the  soul.  He 
now  becomes  not  merely  an  interpreter  to  facts 
that  are  patent,  but  also  a  witness  to  facts  that 
are  not.  Christian  teaching,  to  be  effectual, 
must  always  be  founded  on  personal  experience 
of  the  truth  taught  (1  Cor.  2 :  12, 13).  —  Earthly 
things  .  .  .  heavenly  things.  The  connec- 
tion of  these  verses  with  the  preceding  in- 
terprets the  contrast  which  Christ  here  indi- 
cates. Nicodemus  has  impliedly  asked  for  an 
exposition  of  Christ's  system  of  truth.  Christ 
has  replied  by  saying  that  no  man  can  imder- 
stand  the  truths  that  pertain  to  the  kingdom  of 
God  unless  he  is  born  again.  This  necessity  of  a 
radical  change  in  heart  and  life  in  order  to  appre- 
ciate divine  things  is  an  earthly  fact,  easily  tested 
by  an  observation  of  men;  a  striking  evidence 
of  it  is  afforded  by  the  question  of  Nicode- 
mus in  verse  4.  He  then  immediately  goes  on 
to  ask  how  such  a  change  can  be  effected.  But 
this,  the  method  of  God's  work  in  anew  creatmg 
the  heart,  is  a  heavenly  thing,  not  a  matter  of 
observation  ;  and  Christ  says,  If  you  do  not  be- 
lieve me  when  I  tell  you  a  truth  which  you  can 
easily  verify  by  studying  the  earthly  life  of  men, 
what  use  is  there  in  my  telling  you  the  secrets  of 
God's  working,  the  truth  of  which  disclosure 
you  have  no  means  of  verifying.  Observe  the 
implication  that  the  things  which  are  earthly, 
literally,  w^jon  the  earth  {iniyiiu),  belong  to  us  to 
study  and  know,  and  the  things  which  are  heav- 
enly, literally,  which  take  place  in  the  heavens 
(i;roi  (jai ta),  belong  to  the  secret  counsels  and 


44 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  hi. 


wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son  of  man  be  lifted 
up: 

15  That  whosoever"  believeth  in  him  should   not 
perish,  but  have  eternal  life. 

16  For  God  "■  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his 


only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life. 

17  For  God  '^  sent  not  his  Son  into  tlie  world  to  con- 
demn the  world  ;  but  that  the  world  through  him 
might  bd  saved. 


ver.  36  ;  Heb.  7  :  io 


1  Juhii  4:9... 


work  of  God,  and  do  not  belong  to  us  to  inves- 
tigate (Deut.  29  :  29).  And  yet  by  far  the  largest 
proportion  of  theological  conflicts  have  taken 
place  respecting  these  hidden  things,  concerning 
God's  eternal  counsels  not  man's  present  duty. 

13.  The  key  to  the  interpretation  of  this  verse 
is  to  be  found  in  its  context  and  connection. 
Christ  says  :  How  shall  ye  believe  if  I  tell  you  of 
things  which  take  place  in  heaven ;  yet  no  one 
else  can  tell  you,  for  no  one  has  ascended  into 
heaven,  and  no  one  therefore  can  report  its  se- 
crets, except  he  who  has  descended  from  heaven 
and  is  in  continual  communion  with  heaven.  So 
interpreting  it,  observe,  (1)  The  declaration,  lu) 
one  (not  merely  no  man)  hath  ascended  up  to 
heaven,  means  no  living  person  ;  it  does  not  mili- 
tate against  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead,  nor  imply  an  unconscious  or  even  an 
intermediate  state.  It  is  by  the  connection  lim- 
ited to  those  living  on  the  earth,  for  they  alone 
could  reveal  the  secrets  of  heaven  if  acquainted 
with  them.  (2)  He  that  came  down  from  heaven 
plainly  implies  the  pre-existence  and  supernatu- 
ral character  and  origin  of  Jesus  Christ  (comp.  ch.  s : 
6s).  He  contrasts  himself  with  other  men,  patri- 
archs, prophets,  apostles,  as  the  only  one  who  has 
descended  to  earth  from  heaven.  (3)  Which  is 
hi  heaven  indicates  not  merely,  as  Meyer  appar- 
ently interprets  it,  that  Christ's  proper  abode 
and  home  were  in  heaven,  but  also  that  he  main- 
tained a  vital  and  continuous  communion  there- 
Avith,  dwelling  in  the  Spirit  in  heaven,  even  while 
in  the  flesh  upon  earth.  The  Christian's  experi- 
ence interprets,  though  it  does  not  fully  measure, 
this  mystery  of  the  heavenly  life  in  the  flesh  (phii. 

3  :  20  ;   Ephes.  2:6;   Heb.  12  :  22). 

14,  15.  As  3Ioses  lifted  up  the  serpent 
in  the  wilderness.  The  reference  here  is  to 
the  event  recorded  in  Num.  21  :  J— 9.  The  ac- 
count there  should  be  carefully  studied  and  com- 
pared with  the  spiritual  interpretation  which 
Christ  afEords  here.  "What  species  are  there  in- 
dicated by  the  description  "  flery  serpent "  is  not 
very  clear ;  probably  the  title  was  given  from  the 
burning  sensations  produced  by  their  bite.  Trav- 
elers describe  a  large  serpent,  said  to  abound  in 
the  Arabian  peninsula,  full  of  fiery  red  spots  and 
undulating  stripes,  and  regarded  as  one  of  the 
most  poisonous  of  the  serpent  kind.  Excruciating 
heat  and  a  burning  thirst  are  among  the  symp- 
toms produced  by  the  bite  of  this  serpent.  The 
brazen  serpent  described  in  Numbers  is  thought 
to  have  been  put  upon  a  pole  and  carried  through- 


out the  camp,  so  as  to  bring  it  within  the  sight 
of  all  the  people.  It  was  carefully  preserved  and 
carried  into  the  Holy  Land,  where  it  became  an 
object  of  idolatry  and  was  destroyed  in  the  refor- 
mation instituted  under  Hezekiah  (2  Kings  is :  4). 
A  Roman  Catholic  church  at  Milan,  Italy,  liov/- 
ever,  still  claims  to  possess  the  origmal  brazen 
serpent. — Must  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up. 
Why  must  .<?  What  is  the  necessity  ?  That  ques- 
tion Christ  does  not  answer  here,  nor,  so  far  as  I 
can  see,  does  the  N.  T.  anywhere.  It  simply 
re^jreseuts  the  atoning  sacrifice  of  Christ  as  a  ne- 
cessity, without  explaining  the  grounds  of  that 
necessity  (comp.  Luke  24 :  26).  That  it  is  in  the  divine 
economy  of  grace  an  inexorable  necessity  is  indi- 
cated even  by  the  types  of  the  O.  T.  (Lev.  n  :  ii ; 
Heb.  9 :  22).  The  phrasc  "Son  of  Man"  was  a 
common  Jewish  designation  for  the  Messiah.  It 
would  have  been  so  understood  by  Nicodemus 
(Matt.  10 :  23,  note). — Be  lifted  up.  Not  only  on  the 
cross,  but  by  the  cross  unto  glory.  It  is  the  cross 
which  lifts  up  Christ  to  be  the  object  of  adora- 
tion for  the  whole  creation  (pmi.  2:9;  Rev.  5 : 9). — 
Should  not  perish.  These  words  are  wanting 
in  the  best  manuscripts.  But  the  doctrine  im- 
plied, that  those  who  do  not  believe  Mill  perish, 
is  clearly  taught  in  verse  16,  from  which  it  was 
probably  borrowed  and  inserted  here  by  some 
early  copyist. — Eternal  life.  The  same  Greek 
words  are  rendered  everlasting  life  in  the  nest 
verse  (yw?))'  aiajvior).  Conx]).  ch.  10  :  10.  Eternal 
life  is  the  life  of  the  soul  which  disaster  cannot 
impair  nor  death  destroy^a  present  possession, 
not  a  future  inheritance,  except  that  it  is  a  i^os- 
session  which  grows  in  value  and  importance  in 
the  future. 

In  studying  Christ's  language  in  these  two 
verses  observe  (1)  That  we  have  Christ's  author- 
ity for  the  doctrine  that  the  O.  T.  history  is 
intended  to  indicate,  by  types  or  object-teach- 
ing, the  great  truths  of  the  Gospel.  This  he 
assumes  elsewhere  in  his  ministiy  (Luke  22 :  is,  19, 
20;  John  6 :  49-5i),  and  it  is  dircctly  asserted  by  Paul 
(i  Cor.  10:  ii),  and  underlies  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews.  The  history  of  the  brazen  serpent  is 
then  a  parable  of  the  Gospel ;  parabolically  it 
I^oiuts  out  the  way  of  salvation.  (2)  The  serpent 
is  throughout  the  Bible  an  emblem  of  Satan,  and 
its  poison  an  emblem  of  the  deadly  and  perva- 
sive effects  of  sin  (Gen.  3  :  l,  14,  15  ;  Deut.  32  :  33  ;  Psalm 
58:4,5;    140:3;   Rom.    3:13;   2  Cor.    11:3;    Rev.  12  :  9).      It 

is  a  fitting  emblem — slight  in  its  first  wound, 
affecting  the  blood,  the  current  and  fountain  of 


Ch.  III.] 


JOHN. 


45 


life,  pervading  the  wliole  frame  with  its  subtle 
poison,  a  poison  for  wliich  there  is  no  human 
remedy,  and  resulting  in  certain  death,  (o)  For 
the  human  soul,  poisoned  by  sin,  the  end  w  here- 
of is  death  (james  1 :  15),  there  is  lifted  up  One  who, 
though  he  knew  no  sin,  was  made  in  the  likeness 
of  sinful  flesh  (2  Cor.  6:21),  so  that  in  him  the 
enemy  himself  was,  as  it  were,  nailed  to  the 
cross  (Col.  2 :  15).  Thus,  as  the  brazen  serpent 
represented  the  liery  serpent,  yet  had  in  him 
not  poison  but  healing,  so  Christ  represented 
sinful  flesh,  but  had  in  him  no  sin  but  redemp- 
tion from  the  poison  of  sin  in  others.  (4)  The 
one  only  condition  of  healing  to  the  poisoned 
Israelite  was  that  he  look  on  the  brazen  serpent ; 
and  this  simply  as  an  act  of  obedient  faith.  To 
this  fact  Isaiah  had  reference'in  his  interpreta- 
tion of  the  divine  condition  of  salvation,  "Look 
unto  me,  and  be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of  the 
earth;  for  I  am  God,  and  there  is  none  else" 
(Isaiah  45 :  22).  So  here  to  "  believe  in  him  "  is  not 
to  believe  some  doctrine  about  the  Messiah,  but 
simply  to  trust  in  him,  to  look  unto  him  (Acts 
16 :  31 ;  Heb.  12 : 2).  (5)  The  work  of  heralding  the 
Gospel  Is  the  work  of  Moses  in  the  wilderness. 
It  is  a  simple  pointing  to  the  Saviour,  lifted  up 
that  the  sinner,  by  looking  unto  him,  may  be 
saved.  The  work  of  instruction  in  the  precepts 
of  Christ  and  the  principles  of  his  kingdom 
comes  after,   not  before,    salvation  (Matt.  28 :  19, 

20,  note). 

16.  Some  scholars,  including  Olshausen  and 
Tholuck,  suppose  that  Christ's  discourse  ends 
with  the  preceding  verse,  and  that  the  remain- 
der, to  verse  21,  are  added  by  John;  but  the 
grounds  for  such  an  hypothesis  seem  to  me 
quite  insufficient,  and  the  objections  to  it  quite 
conclusive.  The  grounds  are  (a)  That  all  allu- 
sion to  Nicoclemus  is  henceforth  dvojyped.  But 
Nicodemus  is  only  introduced  as  an  interrogator, 
because  his  questions  elicit  the  instruction  of 
Jesus ;  and  only  so  much  of  his  share  in  the 
conversation  is  recorded  as  is  necessary  to  make 
Christ's  language  intelligible,  (b)  Thenceforth 
2xtst  tenses  arc  used.  This  might,  however,  well 
be  the  case,  even  if  the  events  were  future,  the 
discourse  being  prophetic.  But  the  events  were 
not  future,  but  past.  The  love  of  God,  the 
sending  his  Son  into  the  world,  the  opening  of 
the  door  of  salvation  through  Him — all  this  was 
already  accomplished  ;  and  the  passion  is  not 
described  in  detail  as  an  event  past,  (c)  The 
jphrase  '■'■only  begotten''''  is  said  to  be  peculiar  to 
John.  But  Stier  well  replies  that  John  probably 
obtained  the  phrase  from  Christ.  The  objections 
to  the  view  which  supposes  that  Christ  ends  the 
discx)urse  at  verse  15,  and  that  the  rest  is  John's 
are,  i  a)  That  the  discourse  breaks  off  abruptly,  if 
ended  at  verse ^  15,  leaving  Nicodemus  in  entire 
Ignorance  of  the  way  of  salvation.      The  same 


necessity  which,  on  this  hypothesis,  led  John  to 
complete  it,  would  much  more  have  led  Christ 
to  complete  it.  (b)  There  is  nothing  to  indicate' 
a  break  at  verse  15  ;  and  to  suppose  John  guilty 
of  adding  to  the  discourse  of  our  Lord  his  own 
words,  without  indicating  that  it  is  an  addition, 
is  to  accuse  liim  of  imposture,  if  not  forgei-y,  and 
casts  discredit  over  his  whole  narrative.  Lano-e 
Stier,  Meyer,  Alford,  all  hold  the  discourse  to 
be  our  Lord's  to  the  end,  at  verse  21.  The  verse 
itself  has  been  well  called  by  Luther  "  The  little 
gospel,"  for  it  embodies  the  whole  gospel  in  a 
single  sentence.  It  declares  the  divine  nature- 
love  (i  joiin  3 : 9,  16) ;  the  nature  of  that  love,  a 
love  unto  self-sacrifice,  the  sacrifice  of  his  Only 
Son  ;  the  object  of  that  love— the  whole  Morld  ; 
the  result  of  that  love— the  gift  of  the  Messiah  ; 
the  divine  nature  of  the  Messiah — God's  only 
begotten  Son  ;  the  object  of  that  gift — salvation ; 
the  sole  condition  of  securing  the  benefits  of  that 
gift — trust  in  the  Saviour ;  the  proffer  of  that 
salvation — to  all  that  believe  in  him  ;  the  effect 
of  rejecting  it — perishing  ;  the  effect  of  accept- 
ing it — everlasting  life.  Observe,  (1)  that  all 
attempts  to  limit  the  meaning  of  the  word 
world  (o  y.unaog)  to  the  elect,  or  the  church,  are 
inconsistent  with  the  original  and  with  other 
parallel  passages  of  Scripture.  See  particularly 
1  John  2  :  2,  and  Matt.  13  :  38,  note;  (2)  the 
cause  of  the  atonement  is  ti-aced  here  not  to  the 
wrath  but  to  the  love  of  God,  a  fundamental  fact 
often  lost  sight  of  in  presenting  that  doctrine ; 
(3)  in  the  original  an  emphasis  is  put  upon  the 
word  so,  which  is  not  preserved  in  the  English 
version.  The  wonder  of  the  Gospel  is  not  that 
God  loved  the  world,  but  that  he  loved  it  with 
such  a  love,  a  love  which  only  the  sacrifice  of  an 
only  begotten  Son  can  interpret. 

17.  Not  ....  to  condemn  the  world. 
The  Jews  believed  (see  LujJttfoot)  that  the  Mes- 
siah would  save  Israel  and  judge  the  Gentile 
nations.  It  was  a  Rabbinical  interpretation  of 
Isaiah  21:12,  "The  morning  cometh  and  also 
the  night."  "It  will  be  the  morning  to  Israel 
(when  the  Messiah  shall  come),  but  night  to  the 
(Gentile)  nations  of  the  world."  This  error 
Christ  refutes,  in  this  his  first  private  preaching 
of  the  Gospel,  as  subsequently  in  his  first  public 
preaching  (Luke  4  :  25-2-) ;  he  declares  that  he 
brings  salvation  to  the  whole  world.  Alford 
notices  the  peculiar  construction  of  the  close  of 
the  verse,  not,  That  he  might  save  the  world, 
but.  That  the  world  through  him  might  be 
saved.  "  The  free  will  of  the  world  is  by  this 
strikingly  set  forth  in  connection  with  verses 
19,  20.  Not  that  the  Lord  is  not  the  Saviour  of 
the  world,  but  that  the  peculiar  cast  of  this 
passage  requires  the  other  side  of  the  truth  to 
be  brought  out." 

18.  The  connection  is  this :  Though  God  did 


46 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  III. 


i8  He^  that  believeth  on  him  is  not  condemned  :  but 
he  that  believeth  not  is  condemned  already,  because  he 
hath  not  believed  in  the  name  of  the  only  begotten  Son 
of  God. 

19  And  this  is  the  condemnation,  that  light  ^  is  come 
into  the  world,  and  men  loved  darkness  rather  than 
light,  because  their  deeds  were  evil. 


20  For  every  one  that  doeth  evil  hateth  the  light, 
neither"  Cometh  to  the  light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be 
reproved. 

21  But  he  that  doeth''  truth  cometh  to  the  light,  that 
his  deeds  may  be  made  manifest,  that  tliey  are 
wrought*^  in  God. 

22  Atter  these  things  came  Jesus  and  his  disciples 


y  ch.  6:40,  «....zch.  1  :  4;  9  :  11.  ...a  Job  24  :  la,  17  ;  Pr.  4  :  18,  19....b  IJohn  1  :6 c  John  3  :  11. 


not  send  his  Son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the 
world,  yet  he  is  even  now  judging  it  and  con- 
demning its  unbelief,  though  not  in  the  way 
Nicodemus  had  anticipated ;  his  mere  presence 
Is  a  judgment.  His  fan  is  in  his  hand  (Matt.  3 :  u) ; 
for  he  that  trusts  in  Christ  is  thereby  taken  out 
from  judgment,  while  he  that  rejects  Christ 
condemns  himself.  The  next  verse  states  the 
ground  and  the  nature  of  this  condemnation. 
The  Light  has  come  into  the  world,  and  men  by 
refusing  the  Light  attest  their  love  of  darkness  ; 
and  it  is  for  this,  not  for  the  darkness  but  for 
their  loveot  it,  that  they  are  condemned. — Is  not 
condemned.  But  "is  passed  from  death  unto 
life  "  (ch.  5 :  24). — Is  condemned  already.  The 
sinner  is  condemned,  not  by  Christ  but  by  his 
own  act ;  he  is  self-condemned  (tu.  3 :  11).  Observe, 
that  throughout  the  N.  T.  both  condemnation 
and  salvation  are  represented  as  present  realities, 
not  as  future  possibilities.  The  last  judgment 
decides  nothing ;  it  simply  announces  publicly 
the  results  of  the  judgment  now  forming.  L'fe 
is  the  true  judgment-day. — Because  he  hath 
not  believed.  Men  are  not  condemned  for 
their  deeds  but  for  their  desires.  The  way  of 
escape  from  the  evil  is  provided  and  declined ;  and 
for  this  the  soul  is  condemned.  Thus  it  is  true 
that  the  Lamb  of  God  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world  (ch.  1 :  29)  and  yet  condemns  the  sinner 
(ch.  15 :  22),  because  the  condemnation  is  not  for 
the  past  sin,  but  for  the  present  rejection  of  the 
Saviour  from  sin.— In  the  name  of  the  only 
begotten  Son  of  God.  The  name  is  Jesus, 
i.  €.,  Saviour,  and  was  given  to  him  because  "he 
shall  save  his  people  from  their  sins  "  (Matt.  1 :  21). 
To  disbelieve  in  that  name  is  to  reject  that  salva- 
tion. "The  'only  begotten'  also  here  sets 
before  us  the  hopelessness  of  such  a  man's 
state  ;  he  has  no  other  Saviour." — (Alford.) 

19.  And  this  is  the  condemnation.  Not 
merely,  This  is  the  cause  of  the  condemnation ; 
Christ  has  already  stated  that  in  the  preceding 
verse  ;  he  here  states  the  nature  of  the  con- 
demnation. He  that  loves  darkness  rather  than 
light  is  given  over  to  his  own  choice  ;  this  is  the 
sentence  pronounced  against  him  (Hosea  4 :  n  ;  Rom. 
1 :  28 ;  Rev.  22 :  ii). — McH  lovcd  darkness  rather 
than  light.  Not  merely  more  than  light ;  they 
chose  darkness.  For  illustration  of  this  delib- 
erate choice  of  darkness  see  Matt.  13  :  14,  1.5 ; 
28  :  13-14 ;  John  6  :  06 ;  13  :  10,  11 ;  Acts  4  :  16, 
17 ;  2  Tim.  4  :  10.     This  is  not  always,  however, 


a  conscious  and  deliberate  choice.  See  John  13  : 
43  ;  2  Tim.  3  :  4. — Because   their  deeds    are 

evil.  Corruptiiig  to  others.  This  is  the  force  of 
the  Greek  word  (;roj  »;oc(),  which  is  different  from 
that  rendered  evil  in  the  next  verse.  The  cor- 
rupting power  of  sin  lies  in  its  secreting  its  evil 
character  and  purpose  ;  hence  it  avoids  the 
light ;    hence  too  it  is  called  in  Scripture  the 

power  of  darkness  (Luke  22  :  53;   Col.  1  :  13  ;  Rev.  16  :  lo). 

Observe  the  secret  cause  of  unbelief  here  indi- 
cated ;  men  are  willfully  ignorant  of  the  truth. 
It  is  not  the  intellect,  but  the  will  which  is 
perverse.  "The  source  of  unbelief  is  immoral- 
ity."—(il/e?/er.) 

20.  Every  one  that  practiseth  evil. 
Worthless  things  {<puv?.a),  not  as  in  the  preceding 
verse,  things  corrujMng.  But  corrupting  include 
worthless  things,  for  they  are  not  only  worthless 
but  worse  than  worthless.  The  evil  here  charac- 
terized is  parallel  to  the  idle  words  of  Matt.  12  : 
36,  and  it  is  opposed  to  the  truth  which  is  always 
fruitful  in  goodness  and  love. — Hateth  the 
light.  It  has  been  supposed  by  some  that 
there  is  in  these  words  a  covert  rebuke  of 
Nicodemus  for  coming  to  Christ  secretly  by 
night.  This  seems  to  me  improbable.  Christ 
was  not  accustomed  to  conceal  his  rebukes  so 
deftly. — Lest  his  deeds  should  be  reproved. 
Not  necessarily  by  words  of  condemnation,  but 
by  the  mere  exposure  of  their  worthlessness 
when  brought  to  the  light.  See  Luke  3  :  19,  20 ; 
John  8  :  8,  9  ;  Compare  Ephes.  5  :  11-13. 

21.  But  he  that  doeth  the  truth.  Man 
practises  the  evU  (nQuaaw),  he  does  the  truth 
(TToifo)).  Compare  ch.  5  :  29,  where  the  same 
distinction  is  observed:  "they  that  have  do7ie 
good  (shall  come  forth)  unto  the  resurrection 
of  Ufe,  they  that  have  practised  evil,  unto  the 
resurrection  of  damnation."  "He  that  2^>'actises 
{71  Qiia  a  id)  has  nothing  but  his  2}racticc,  which  is 
an  event,  a  thing  of  the  past,  a  source  to  him 
only  of  condemnation,  for  he  has  nothing  to 
show  for  it,  for  it  is  also  worthless  (r/iKi'/ov) ; 
whereas  he  that  does  {noik'i)  has  his  deed — he 
has  abiding  fruit;  his  works  do  follow  him." — 
{Alford.) — Cometh  to  the  light.  Not  merely 
is  willing  and  desirous  to  come  to  the  light,  but 
is  also  enabled  to  come  to  it,  and  to  appreciate 
and  receive  it  (Prov.  4 :  is;  John  7 :  17).  Observe  that 
throughout  the  N.  T.  truth  is  represented  not 
merely  as  an  abstract  philosophy  to  be  intel- 
lectually received,  but  as  a  life  in  harmony  with 


€h.  III.] 


JOHN. 


47 


into  the  land  of  Judaea ;   and  there  he  tarried  with 
them,  and  baptized.'' 

23  And  John  also  was  baptizing  in  jEnon,  near  to 
Salim,"^  because  there  was  much  water  there :  and 
they'  came,  and  were  baptized. 

24  For  Johns  was  not  yet  cast  into  prison. 


25  Then  there  arose  a  question  between  some  of 
John's  disciples  and  the  Jews  about  purifying. 

26  And  they  came  unto  John,  and  said  unto  him, 
Rabbi,  he  ths.t  was  with  thee  beyond  Jordan,  to  whom 
thou  barest''  witness,  behold,  the  same  baptizeth,  and 
all  men  '  come  to  him. 


d  ch.  4  :  2 el  Sam.  9:4 f  Matt.  3  :  5,  6 g  Matt.  14  :  3 li  cli.  1  :  7,  15,  etc i  Ps.  65  :  2  ;  Isa.  46  :  23. 


the  eternal  verities  of  God's  law  and  character. 
Thus  the  incarnation  is  the  fundamental  doc- 
trine of  Christianity  ;  as  Christ  is  himself  em- 
phatically the  Truth,  so  every  Christian  must  be 
in  a  smaller  measure  an  embodiment  and  incar- 
nation of  divine  truth,  manifesting  it  less  by 
his  words  than  by  liis  life.  So,  on  the  other 
hand,  Paul  catalogues  the  vices  of  life,  as  the 
things  which  are  contrary  to  "  sound  doctrine  " 
{1  Tim.  1 :  lo).  For  an  exemplification  of  what  it 
is  to  do  the  truth,  see  Psalm  15. — That  they 
are  wrought  iii  God.  The  Christian  comes  to 
the  light,  not  for  self-glorification,  but  to  glorify 
God ;  his  desire  is  not  to  manifest  the  goodness 
in  himself,  but  the  goodness  in  God  which  has 
triumphed  over  the  evil  in  himself  (Matt.  5 :  le ; 
a  Cor.  15  :  io)_. 

Ch.  3  :  22-36.  I'URTHER  TESTIMONY  FROM  JOHN  THE 
BAPTIST  TO  .lESUS. — The  office  and  the  joy  op  the 
MiNisTRT — Christ  contrasted  with  his  heraid — 
The  human  coNriKMATiON  of  divine  truth— The 

CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION — ThE  GROUND  OP  CONDEM- 
NATION— The  DANGER  OP  AND  THE  DEFENCE  FROM 
ENVT. 

22.  After  these  things.  Not  necessarily 
immediately  after.  There  is  nothing  to  indicate 
how  much  time  elapsed  between  the  conversa- 
tion with  Nicodemus  and  the  events  recorded  in 
the  latter  part  of  this  chapter,  except  the  note 
of  time  in  verse  2i. — And  baptized.  Christ 
did  not  baptize  (ch.  4 : »),  and  the  baptism  could 
not  have  been  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  the  Holy  Ghost 
was  not  yet  given  (joUn  t  :  39),  that  is,  in  such 
measure  as  to  be  the  common  heritage  of  all 
disciples.  The  probable  explanation  of  the 
statement  here  and  in  ch.  4:1,  3,  is  that  of 
Chrysostom:  "Both  parties  (John  and  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus)  alike  had  one  reason  for  baptiz- 
ing, and  that  was  to  lead  the  baptized  to 
Christ." 

23,  24.  In  Enon  near  to  Salim.  The  site 
of  both  places  is  uncertain.  For  different  hypoth- 
eses see  StaiOi's  Bible  Dictionary,  article  ^non. 
Jerome  and  Eusebius  both  affirm  that  Salim 
existed  in  their  day  eight  Roman  miles  south  of 
Scythopolis  near  the  Jordan.  Van  der  Velde 
found  a  Mussulman  oratory  called  Sheyk  Salim 
about  six  miles  south  of  Scythopolis,  and  two 
miles  west  of  the  Jordan.  Dr.  Hackett  seems  to 
think  this  the  more  probable  site.    This  places 


it  near  the  northern  border  of  Samaria. — Be- 
cause there  was  much  water  there.  Rather 
mauy  waters,  i.  e.,  many  springs.  Whether  this 
spot  was  chosen  because  the  water  afforded 
conveniences  for  baptizing,  or  because  the 
springs  afforded  conveniences  for  the  pilgrims 
that  flocked  in  such  numbers  (Matt.  3:5)  to  the 
baptism  of  John,  is  uncertain.  Nothing  respect- 
ing the  form  of  baptism  can  be  deduced  from 
this  expression. — For  John  was  not  yet  cast 
into  prison.  For  chronology  of  this  period, 
see  Matt.  4  :  13,  note.  The  events  recorded  in 
John,  chaps.  3,  3,  and  4,  seem  to  have  occurred 
between  the  temptation  and  the  first  preaching 
of  Jesus  recorded  in  Matt.  14  :  3-13  ;  Mark  6  : 
14-29.     See  notes  there. 

25,  26.  Then  there  arose  a  question 
between  some  of  John's  disciples  and  a 
Jew  about  purifying.  Not  the  Jews,  but  a 
Jew,  an  indication  that  the  difficulty,  whatever 
it  was,  started  with  him.  Various  conjectures 
have  been  proposed  respecting  the  nature  of  this 
question.  The  discussion  of  them  is  unprofit- 
able. The  fact  of  the  question  is  merely  stated 
to  explain  how  the  instructions  of  John  the 
Baptist  came  to  be  given. — And  they  came. 
Some  of  the  disciples  of  John  came.  —  Said 
unto  him.  What  they  said  was  evidently  in 
the  nature  of  a  complaint.  "He  who  also  was 
with  thee,"  said  they,  "as  one  of  thy  disciples, 
has  started  off  on  a  mission  of  his  own,  and  is 
eclipsing  thee."  There  was  possibly  a  little 
personal  jealousy  in  this  complaint.  To  their 
minds  Jesus  was  but  a  disciple  of  the  Baptist 
like  themselves. 

27,  28.  A  man  can  receive  nothing 
except  it  be  given  him  from  heaven. 
Some,  as  Alford  and  Maurice,  suiDpose  that 
John  refers  to  himself,  saying  in  effect :  I  can- 
not take  more  than  God  has  given  me,  viz.,  the 
mission  of  a  herald  ;  others,  as  Chrysostom. 
that  he  refers  to  Jesus.  This  latter  seems  to 
me  clearly  the  true  view,  which  has  been  aban- 
doned, perhaps,  from  a  reluctance  to  apply  the 
principle  involved  in  it  to  Christ,  that  whatever 
power  he  possessed  was  not  independent  but 
derived  from  the  Father.  The  connection  seems 
to  me  to  be  this:  "If  he  whom  I  baptized  is 
drawing  all  men  unto  him  and  is  conferring  on 
them  spiritual  gifts  greater  than  I  conferred,  it 
is  because  his  spiritual  power,  heaven  bestowed, 
is  greater.    For,  in  the  spiritual  realm  no  man 


48 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  III. 


27  John  answered  and  said,  A  manJ  can   receive 
nothing,  except  it  be  given  him  from  heaven. 

28  Ye  yourselves  bear  me  witness,  that  I  said,''  I  am 
not  the  Christ,  but  that  I '  am  sent  before  him. 

29  He  that  hath  the  bride  °  is  the  bridegroom  :  but 


the  friend "  of  the  bridegroom,  which  standeth  and 
hearetii  him,  rejc'ceth  greatly  because  of  the  bride- 
groom's voice  :  this  my  joy  therefore  is  fulfilled. 

30  He  must  increase,  but  1  7nust  decrease. 

31  He  that  cometh  from  above  °  is  above  all :  he  p 


j  1  Cor.  2  :  12,  14  ;  4:7 


. .  .k  ch.  1  :  20,  27. . .  .1  Luke  1  :  17. . .  .m  Cant.  4:8-12;  Jer.  2:2;  Ezek.  16:8;  Hos.  2  :  19,  20  ;    Malt.  22  :  2  ;  2  Cor. 
11:2;  Ephes.  5  :  25,  27;  Rev.  21  :  9 n  Cant.  6:1 o  ch.  6  :  33;  8  :  23 p  1  Cor.  15  :  47. 


can  usurp ;  no  man  can  receive  what  heaven 
does  not  give."  In  other  words,  spiritual  results 
are  always  an  all-sufficient  justification  for  any 
spiritual  work.  No  question  of  its  regularity,  or 
of  the  authority  or  the  riglit  of  the  worker  is  to 
be  entertained.— Ye  yourselves  bear  me  out. 


He  turns  their  words,  "  to  whom  thou  barest 
witness,"  against  themselves.  See  for  his  wit- 
ness Matt.  3  :  11,  12 ;  John  1  :  20,  25-27.— I  am 
sent  before  him.    As  a  herald  before  a  king 

(Luke  3  :  3-6). 

29,  30.    He  that  hath  the  bride  is  the 


TKADITIONAI/   SITE   Oi'    ENON. 


bridegroom,  etc.  In  the  East,  etiquette  for- 
bids any  meetings  between  the  bride  and  groom 
prior  to  marriage.  Often  they  do  not  even  see 
each  other.  All  communications  between  them 
are  carried  on  by  one  answering  to  our  grooms- 
man, and  who  is  designated  as  the  friend  of  the 
bridegroom.  See  Matt.  25  : 1-13,  Prel.  Note.  To 
this  custom  John  refers.  The  Church  is  the 
hride  (Matt.  9 :  15 ;  25 : 1-13 ;  Rev.  21 : 9) ;  in  a  sense  every 
individual  Christian  is  the  bride  (jer.  3 :  14 ;  isa.  54 : 5); 
Chri.st  is  the  bridegroom  ;  every  one  who  brings 
Christ  to  his  Church,  or  to  the  individual  soul,  is 
a  "friend  of  the  bridegroom."     The  practical 


lesson  for  us  is  that  we  are  to  rejoice  to  be  lost  in 
the  Master ;  to  rejoice  when  our  mission  is  ended 
for  the  Church  or  the  individual,  and  those  whom 
we  have  been  teaching  are  able  to  say  to  us,  as 
the  Samaritans  to  the  woman  (john4:42),  "Now 
we  believe,  not  because  of  thy  saying ;  for  we 
have  heard  him  ourselves,  and  know  that  it  is 
indeed  the  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  world." 
' '  I  know  scarcely  any  words  in  all  the  Scriptures 
which  have  a  deeper  and  diviner  music  in  them 
than  these,  or  which  more  express  all  that  a 
Christian  minister  and  a  Christian  man  should 
wish  to  understand  and  feel ;  and  should  hope 


Ch.  III.] 


JOHis'. 


¥J 


that  is  of  the  earth  is  earthly,  and  speaketh  of  the 
earth  :  he  that  cometh  Ironi  heaven  is  above  all. 

32  And  what  he  hath  seen  and  heard,  that  he  testi- 
fieth  :  and  no  man''  receiveth  his  testimony. 

33  He  that  hath  received  his  testimony  hath  set'  to 
his  seal  that  God  is  true. 

34  For  he»  whom  God  hath  sent  speaketh  the  words 


of  God!  for  God  giveth  not  the  Spirit  by  measure' 

35  The  Father  loveth  the  Son,"  and  hath  given  all 
things  into  his  hand. 

36  He*'  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting 
life :  and  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see 
lile  ;  but  the  wrath  "  of  God  abideth  on  him. 


qch.  1  :  11.. 


1:21;  Col.  1  :  19 u  Matt.  28  :  18. 


vtr.  15,  16  ; 


that  some  day  he  may  understand  and  feel  as  he 
who  first  spoke  them  did." — {Maurice.) — Who 
standeth  and  heareth  him.  Stands  ready  to 
do  the  bridegroom's  bidding. — He  must  in- 
crease, but  I  must  decrease.  This  is  with 
John  the  Baptist  a  subject  not  for  resignation, 
but  for  rejoicing.  His  decrease  in  the  increasing 
of  Christ  is  the  evidence  that  his  work  and  his 
faith  have  not  been  in  vain.  For  him  to  live  is 
Christ ;  hence  the  more  Christ  and  the  less  John, 
the  greater  his  joy. 

30-32.  It  has  been  supposed  by  some  critics 
that  the  discourse  of  John  the  Baptist  ends  with 
the  preceding  verse,  and  that  what  follows  is 
a  comment  by  the  EvaugeUst,  (so  Bengel,  OIs- 
hausen,  Tholuck) ;  and  by  others  that  although 
it  is  in  form  the  Evangelist's  report  of  the  Bap- 
tist's words,  it  has  been  so  transformed  in  the 
rejDorting  that  it  is  in  effect  the  Evangelist's, 
(so  Lucke  and  De  Wette.)  It  must  be  confessed 
that  the  style  is  far  more  like  that  of  John  the 
Evangelist  than  like  that  of  John  the  Baptist,  so 
far  as  we  have  reports  from  other  quarters,  of 
the  latter' s  discourses ;  but  there  is  no  indica- 
tion of  any  transition  here  from  a  report  to  a 
comment  on  it ;  and  the  closeness  of  the  connec- 
tion in  thought  forbids  the  idea  that  any  such 
transition  exists.  I  therefore  (with  Alford  and 
Meyer)  regard  the  whole  discourse  as  in  sub- 
stance that  of  John  the  Baptist,  though  probably 
in  phraseology  largely  that  of  the  Evangelist. — 
He  that  cometh  from  above  is  above  all. 
The  Baptist  emphasizes  the  contrast  between 
Christ  and  himself.  Christ,  from  above  and 
above  all,  speaks  what  he  knows  and  has  seen 
(comp.  Johns :  ii) ;  Johu  the  Baptist  from  the  earth, 
and  possessing  the  earthly  nature,  can,  like  all 
other  human  teachers,  only  declare  the  truth  as 
it  has  come  to  him  in  his  earthly  condition  and 
as  seen  through  the  earthly  atmosphere.  The 
teachings  of  Christ  are  the  highest  even  in  the 
Bible,  for  they  are  free  from  that  admixture  of 
earthiness  which  belongs  essentially  to  all  mere 
earth-born  teachers.— No  man  receiveth  his 
testimony.  A  sorrowful  comment  (comp.  ch. 
1 :  11) ;  but  not  literally  true,  nor  is  it  intended  to 
be  literally  taken.  This  is  evident  from  the  next 
verse. 

33-35.  He  that  hath  received  his  testi- 
mony hath  sealed  that  God  is  true.— The 
seal  was  in  ancient  times,  as  in  modern,  attached 


to  any  document  in  confirmation  and  attestation 
of  it.  John  the  Baptist  declares  that  whoever 
accepts  lieartily  the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ 
becomes  himself  a  confirmation  of  its  truth  to 
others,  by  his  own  life.  The  meaning  is  inter- 
preted by  Matt.  5  :  14 ;  and  2  Cor.  3:2.  A  preg- 
nant and  suggestive  metaphor ;  that  we  put  the 
seal  to  God's  testimony.— He  whom  God  hath 
sent.  The  question  of  Christ's  relation  to  the 
Father  is  not  in  issue  here.  John's  disciples  com- 
plain that  Jesus  teaches  at  all ;  John  replies  that 
the  divine  effects  of  his  teaching  are  the  attesta- 
tion of  his  divine  ministry ;  and  that  having  been 
divinely  sent,  he  can  speak  no  other  than  divine 
words.  Compare  ch.  7  :  10.— For  the  Father 
giveth  not  the  Spirit  by  measure.  Alford 
sustains  the  addition  of  the  English  translators, 
unto  Mm  ;  to  me  it  seems,  as  to  Meyer,  quite  ar- 
bitraiy.  The  meaning  is  not,  God  has  distin- 
guished Christ  from  all  other  teachers  by  his 
unmeasured  gifts  of  grace  to  him ;  but,  when 
God  gives  he  does  not  stint,  nor  measure,  nor 
parley,  but  gives  abundantly  more  than  we  can 
ask  or  think  (Ephes.  s :  -.jo)  ;  therefore,  when  he 
sends  one  into  the  world  to  reveal  divine  truth, 
we  are  not  to  be  afraid  of  his  teaching,  and  to  put 
limitations  upon  and  hindrances  about  him,  lest 
he  go  astray.  The  truth  that  God  has  given  im- 
measurably more  into  the  hands  of  his  only  begot- 
ten Son  than  to  any  created  being  appears  in  the 
next  verse,  not  in  this.  Our  English  version  de- 
stroys the  climax,  and  makes  ver.  35  little  more 
than  a  repetition  of  ver.  34. — And  hath  given 
all  things  into  his  hands.  Observe  that 
throughout  the  N.  T.  the  power  and  authority  of 
Christ  is  represented  as  derived  from  the  Father, 
not  as  original  or  independent  of  him.  See  for 
example,  John  .5  :  26  ;  Phil.  2:9;  Heb.  1  :  9. 

3G.  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath 
everlasting  life.  An  assertion,  not  a  promise. 
The  declaration  is  not  that  everlasting  life  shall 
be  given  to  him  in  the  future  as  a  reward  for  his 
act  of  faith,  but  that  faith  at  once  inducts  him 
into  spiritual  life,  which  is  alone  everlasting. 
Compare  ver.  18  above  ;  Rom.  6  :  23  ;  1  John  3  : 3. 
Observe  what  faith  confers  is  life,  i.  e.,  the  high- 
est development  and  activity  of  the  whole  being 
(John  10:  lo),  the  revcrsc  being  death. — He  that 
believeth  not  the  Son.  Two  different  Greek 
words  are  translated  in  the  two  clauses  of  this 
verse  by  the  English  word  believe.     The  force  of 


50 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  IV. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

WHEN  therefore  the  Lord  knew  how  the  Pharisees 
had  heard  that  Jesus  made  and  baptized^  more 
■disciples  than  John, 


2  (Though  Jesus  himself  baptized  not,  but  his  disci- 
ples,) 

3  He    left   Judaea,   and   departed  again    into    Gali- 
lee. 

4  And  he  must  needs  ^  go  through  Samaria. 


xch.  3:22,  26....y  Luke  2  :  49. 


the  original  is  impaired,  if  not  destroyed,  by  this 
mistranslation  ;  but  it  is  not  easy  to  find  in  Eng- 
lish the  exact  equivalent  for  the  distinction  which 
is  noted  m  the  original.  The  passage  may  per- 
haps be  rendered.  He  that  hath  faith  iii  {matihtuv 
tli)  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life;  but  he  that  will 
not  be  persuaded  by  {umL^wr)  the  Son  shall  not  see 
life.  Beware  of  considering  Believe  on  the  Son  as 
equivalent  to  either  Believe  correctly  about  the  Son, 
or  even  Believe  the  Son.  See  Matt.  18  :  6,  note. — 
Shall  not  see  life.  Not  only  shall  not  have  it, 
but  cannot  even  comprehend  it.  Spiritual  life  is 
only  spiritually  discerned,  and  faith  is  the  first 
condition  of  spiritual  discernment.  See  ver.  3 
and  note. — The  wrath  of  God  abideth  on 
him.  Remains,  as  something  previously  resting 
upon  him  and  not  removed.     See  Ephes.  2  :  3. 


r 


Ch.  4  :  1-26.  CHRIST  AND  THE  WOMAN  OF  SAMARIA. 
— Chbist  a  pkeacheb  in  season  and  out  op  season. 
—His  example  as  a  Christian  conveesationalist. 
— The  divine  spring  ;  the  human  cistern. — The 
essential  and  the  msiGNiricANT  questions  in  wop.- 
SHip  contrasted. 

This  interview  between  Christ  and  the  Samar- 
itan woman  is  reported  alone  by  John.  The  time 
is  uncertain ;  the  only  definite  indication  is  that  of 
verse  35,  and  the  interpretation  of  that  is  uncer- 
tain. With  Ellicot  and  Andrews,  I  think  Decem- 
ber of  A.  D.  27  the  most  probable  date.  Matthew 
(4  :  12)  explains  Christ's  departure  into  Galilee  by 
saying  that  it  took  place  when  he  heard  that 
John  the  Baptist  was  cast  into  prison  ;  John  here 
attributes  it  to  another  cause,  a  fear  of  rivalry 
and  contention  between  his  own  and  John's  dis- 
ciples. The  probable  explanation  is  that  Christ 
left  Judea  for  the  latter  reason,  but  did  not  com- 
mence his  public  ministry  till  the  imprisonment 
of  the  Baptist.     See  ch.  .5,  Prel.  note. 

1-4.  Jesus  made  and  baptized  more  dis- 
ciples than  John.  The  conversation  between 
Christ  and  Nicodemus  took  place  at  the  Passover, 
and  therefore  in  the  spring ;  if  that  between 
Christ  and  the  woman  at  the  well  occurred  in 
December,  Jesus  and  John  the  Baptist  baptized 
together  during  the  summer.  The  doctrine 
which  Christ  preached  at  this  time  was  substan- 
tially the  same  as  that  of  the  Baptist.  "Repent, 
for  the  ;tingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand"'  (Matt, 
3:2;  4  :  17) ;  for  he  had  not  yet  begun  to  explain 
publicly  the  spiritual  and  universal  nature  of  his 
kingdom.  But  differences  between  the  ministries 
of  the  two  were  from  the  first  apparent ;  differ- 
ences chiefly  respecting  the  ceremonials  of  reli- 
gion— purifying,  baptizing,  fasting  (ch.  3  :  2.5,  26 ; 
-Matt.  9 :  14).  The  increasing  popularity  of  Christ 
threatened  to  awake  the  envy  of  the  Baptist's 
disciples,  his  disregard  of  ceremonial  to  awaken 
their  suspicion  ;  the  Pharisees  were  alert  to  stim- 
ulate both.  So  Christ  withdrew,  forestalling  the 
first  danger  of  rupture  and  conflict,  a  lesson  to  all 
Christian  workers  against  all  unchristian  rival- 
ries and  contentions  about  details  in  doctrine  or 
ceremon}'.  Envy  is  the  most  common  instigator 
of  denominational  controversy.-^Jesus  him- 
self baptized  not.  No  instance  is  recorded  of 
any  baptism  administered  by  Christ,  or  of  any 
baptism  commanded  or  authorized  by  Christ,  till 
after  his  resurrection  and  about  the  time  of  his 
ascension.  Baptism  appears  to  have  been  adopt- 
ed by  his  disciples  from  John  the  Baptist,  and 


€h.  IV.] 


JOHN. 


•61 


5  Then  cometh  he  to  a  city  of  Samaria,  which  is 
•called  Sychar,  near  to  the  parcel  of  ground  that  Jacob 
gave^  to  his  son  Joseph. 


6  Now  Jacob's  well  was  there.  Jesus  therefore, 
being  wearied  with  his  journey,  sat  thus  on  the  well : 
and  It  was  about  the  sixth  hour. 


z  Gen.  33  :  19  ;  48  :  22  ;  Josh.  24  :  32. 


employed  by  them  without  express  direction 
from  Christ,  as  a  symbol  of  repentance  and  a 
profession  of  a  new  life,  and  to  have  been  subse- 
quently adopted  in  a  modified  form  by  their 
Lord.  That  it  was  always  regarded  by  the  apos- 
tles as  subordinate  to  the  preaching  of  the  Word 
is  indicated  by  Acts  10  :  4,  8,  with  1  Cor.  1  :  10, 
17,  from  which  it  appears  to  have  been  a  minis- 
terial act  not  ordinarily  performed  by  the  apos- 
tles. On  the  history  of  bajDtism,  see  note  on  the 
baptism  of  Jesus  by  John,  Vol.  I,  p.  72,  and  on 
Christian  baptism,  note  on  Matt.  28  :  19, — And 
he  must  needs  go  through  Samaria.  Sim- 
ply because  that  province  lay  directly  between 
Judea  and  Galilee,  and  therefore  on  the  direct 
route.  See  map.  Josephus  tells  us  that  it  was 
the  custom  of  the  Galileans,  when  they  came  to 
the  holy  city  to  the  festivals,  to  take  their  journey 
through  the  country  of  the  Samaritans.  The 
more  bigoted  Judeans  may  have  sometimes 
avoided  it  by  going  through  Perea.  The  history 
of  Samaria  explains,  and  in  some  measure  justi- 
fies, the  odium  attaching  to  it  and  its  inhabitants 
among  the  Jews.  At  the  time  of  the  secession  of 
the  ten  tribes  under  Rehoboam  (i  Kings,  ch.  12),  She- 
chem  was  adopted  by  him  as  the  capital  of  the  new 
monarchy,  and  made  the  seat  of  an  idolatrous 
worship.  Subsequently  the  city  of  Samaria  was 
built  by  Omri,  king  of  Israel,  as  capital  (1  Kings 
16 :  24),  and  so  remained  till  the  time  of  the  cap- 
tivity of  the  ten  tribes  under  Ghalmaneser  (2  Kings 
17 :  e).  A  heathen  colony  was  then  sent  in  to  take 
the  places  of  the  exiled  Israelites ;  these  colo- 
nists suffered  from  the  devastations  of  wild 
beasts,  and  acting  on  the  common  assumption  of 
that  time  that  their  own  gods  were  not  compe- 
tent to  take  care  of  them  in  a  strange  land,  sent 
for  and  received  priests  of  Israel  to  teach  them 
the  manner  of  the  God  of  Palestine.  The  result 
of  this  instruction  was  a  mixed  religion,  partly 
Jewish,  partly  heathen  (2  Kings  n  :  24-11).  In  the 
O.  T.,  the  phrase  "the  cities  of  Samaria,"  is 
equivalent  to  the  "kingdom  of  Israel ;  "  it  thus 
included  all  of  Palestine  north  of  Judea.  That 
portion  of  Israel  east  of  the  Jordan  M'hich  origi- 
nally belonged  to  it  was  subsequently  taken  away 
by  the  kings  of  Assyria  (1  curon.  5  :  26),  Galilee 
shared  the  same  fate  (2  Kings  15 :  29),  and  Samaria 
"was  reduced  to  the  dimensions  which  it  possessed 
in  the  time  of  Christ,  The  character  and  con- 
duct of  the  Samaritans  increased  the  antagonism 
between  them  and  the  Jews.  They  were  refused 
permission  to  participate  in  the  rebuilding  of  the 
Ttemple  at  Jerusalem,  at  the  time  of  the  return 


of  Judah  from  captivity,  and  became  open,  and, 
for  a  time,  successful  opponents  of  the  rebuilding 

(Ezra,  chaps.  4  and  6  ;   Neh.,  chaps.  4   an.l   6 j.        Finally,     an 

exiled  priest  from  Jerusalem  obtained  permission 
from  the  Persian  king  of  his  day  to  build  a  rival 
temple  at  Gerizim,  and  Samaria  became  the  rival 
of  Jerusalem,  and  the  rallying-point  of  its  foes 
and  its  outlaws  (josephus' Amiq.  u  :  8,  c).  To  a  rival 
temple  and  religion,  they  added  a  Samaritan 
Pentateuch,  for  which  they  claimed  a  greater 
antiquity  and  authority  than  for  any  copy  of  the 
O.  T.  possessed  by  the  Jews.  The  bitter  national 
and  religious  antipathy  between  Jew  and  Samar- 
itan, consequent  upon  this  history,  is  illustrated 
in  several  passages  in  the  N.  T.  (ver.  9,  note ;  a :  48 ; 

Luke  9  ;  52-56  ;  10  :  30-37  ;  17  :  16).  If  anything  COUld  jus- 
tify such  an  antipathy  this  would  be  justified, 
since  the  Samaritans  were  renegades  both  to  their 
religion  and  to  their  nation  ;  and  Christ's  course 
here  and  elsewhere  implies  a  condemnation  of  all 
rancor  and  bitterness,  founded  on  race,  national, 
or  religious  differences.  Of  the  Samaritans,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  still  worshipping  in  a  little 
synagogue  at  the  foot  of  Gerizim  are  all  that  are 
left,  "the  oldest  and  the  smallest  sect  in  the 
world." 

5.  A  city  of  Samaria  called  Sychar.  The 
prevalent  opinion  is  that  Sychar  is  a  corruption 
of  the  name  Shechem,  that  it  means  drunken, 
and  that  this  slight  change  was  given  by  the  Jews 
to  the  rival  ca])ital  in  derision,  and  in  possible 
allusion  to  Isaiah  28  : 1.  If  this  be  so,  it  must 
have  become  current  at  this  time ;  for  we  can 
hardly  believe  that  John  would  otherwise  embody 
a  mere  term  of  derision  in  the  Evangelical  narra- 
tive. Dr.  Thomson  {Land  and  Book,  ii  :  20(3,  fol- 
lowing Hug,  Luthardt,  and  Ewald)  identifies  the 
ancient  Sychar  with  a  village  about  half  a  mile 
north  of  the  supposed  site  of  Jacob's  well,  called 
Aschar ;  and  as  the  corruption  of  Shechem  into 
Sychar  is  a  mere  hypothesis,  framed  to  account 
for  the  use  of  the  Avord  here,  Dr.  Thomson's 
opinion  appears  to  me  the  more  probable.  She- 
chem was  two  miles  distant  from  Jacob's  well, 
and  apparently  was  abundantlj-  supplied  with 
water. 

6.  Now  Jacob's  spring  Avas  there.  There 
are  two  Greek  words  translated  well  in  this  nar- 
rative :  the  first  means  a  spring  or  fountain,  i.  e., 
water-source  ;  the  second  a  well  or  cistern,  i.  e.,  a 
water-chamber.  The  first  {ni]-pi)  is  used  here, 
indicating  that  the  well  was  fed  internally  by 
springs,  not  externally  by  rain.  A  well,  now  dry 
and  deserted,  answering  to  all  the  conditions  of 


53 


JOHK 


[Ch.  IV. 


the  narrative  here,  is  designated  by  an  ancient 
tradition  as  the  one  here  described  ;  and  the  case 
is  one  of  the  very  few  in  Palestine  in  wliich  tra- 
dition appears  to  be  trustworthy.  It  is  accept- 
ed even  by  Dr.  Robinson.  The  purchase  of  the 
ground  by  Jacob  is  described  in  Gen.  33  :  18-20, 
but  for  the  digging  of  the  well  there  is  no  other 
authority  than  tradition,  unless  Gen.  49  :  22  is  an 
allusion  to  it.  Whether  Jacob  himself  dug  it,  or 
whether  his  name  was  subsequently  given  to  it 
by  tradition  is  not  known,  nor  does  the  reference 
here  determine  that  question  ;  it  only  designates 
the  well  by  its  customary  name.  Why  he  should 
have  dug  a  well  at  all  has  been  made  matter  of 
question,  since  the  whole  valley  abounds  with 
water.  To  this  question  Dr.  Thomson  replies : 
"The  well  is  a 
very  positive  fact, 
and  it  must  have 
been  dug  by 
somebody,  not- 
withstanding this 
abundance  of 
fountains,  and 
why  not  by  Ja- 
cob?" And  he 
suggests  that 
these  fountains 
may  have  been 
already  appropri- 
ated by  the  native 
population.  The 
site  of  the  well 
Is  in  the  valley 
between  Mts.  Ge- 
rizim  and  Ebal. 
For  a  striking  de- 
scription of  this 
valley,  see  Van 
der  Velde.  The  historical  associations  connected 
with  the  site  were  many  and  sacred.  There  the 
Lord  first  appeared  to  Abraham  (Gen.  12:6,  t)  ;  Jacob 
built  his  first  altar  (oen.  33 :  is-20) ;  Joseph  sought  his 
brethren  in  vain  (oen.  37 :  12) ;  Joshua  rehearsed  the 
law,  with  its  blessings  and  cursings,  and  amidst  the 
loud  amens  of  the  assembled  people  (josh,  s :  .to-ss  ; 
24 : 1-25) ;  and  there  Joseph  was  buried  in  the  land 
that  belonged  to  his  father  Jacob  (josh.  24 :  32). 
"At  no  other  spot  in  Palestine,  probably,  could 
Jesus  have  more  fitly  uttered  his  remarkable 
doctrine,  of  the  absolute  liberty  of  conscience 
from  all  thrall  of  place  or  tradition,  than  here  in 
Shechem,  where  the  whole  Jewish  nation,  in  a 
peculiar  sense,  had  its  beginning." — (IT.  W. 
JBeecher''s  Life  of  Christ.) — Beinsr  wearied  with 
his  journey.  The  commentators  call  attention 
to  this  weariness  as  an  evidence  of  the  reality  of 
his  humanity.  It  seems  to  me,  when  coupled 
with  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  53  :  2,  his  apparent 
sinking  under  the  weight  of  the  cross,  and  his 


JACOB'S   WELL. 


early  death,  while  the  two  thieves  survived  (Man 

27  :  32;  Mark  15  :  44;  John  19  :  32,  33),  tO  be  an  indica- 
tion that  his  physical  frame  was  not  robust, 
was  not  equal  to  the  demands  of  the  soul  which  it 
contained,  and  that,  as  a  part  of  his  human  ex- 
perience, he  knew  the  peculiar  sorrows  which  an 
intense  and  active  mind  feels  when  hindered  by  a 
weak  bodily  organization. — Sat  thus  at  the 
spring:.  "  What  meaneth  '  thus '  ?  Not  upon  a 
throne ;  not  upon  a  cushion ;  but  simply  and  as 
he  was  upon  the  ground." — {Chrysostom.) — And 
it  was  about  the  sixth  hour.  That  is,  about 
twelve  o'clock.  There  appears  to  be  no  adequate 
reason  for  the  opinion  that  has  been  advanced, 
that  John  employs  a  different  kind  of  reckoning 
from  that  common  among  the  Jews,  and  means, 
here  ti  p.  m.  It 
is  true  that  the 
evening  was  the 
common  hour  of 
resort  to  the  wells 
by  the  women, 
but  evidently  this 
conference  was 
with  Christ  aloiie, 
an  indication  that 
the  hour  was  not 
the  evening  hour, 
for  then  others 
would  probably 
have  been  present 
also.  Ryle  sug- 
gests that  there 
is  a  significance 
In  the  fact  that 
■while  Christ 
talked  with  Nico- 
demus  alone,  and 
at  night,  his  min- 
istry to  this  sinful  woman  was  at  a  public  re- 
sort, and  at  noon.  "  If  a  man  will  try  to  do  good 
to  a  person  like  the  Samaritan  woman,  alone  and 
without  witnesses,  let  him  take  heed  that  he 
walk  in  his  ^Master's  footsteps,  as  to  the  time  of 
his  proceedings,  as  well  as  to  the  message  he  de- 
livers." Compare  the  circumstances  of  Chri.st's 
Gospel  message  to  the  woman  that  was  a  sinner 

(Luke  7  :  37,  etc.). 

7,8.    A  Avoman   of  Samaria.    That  is,  a 
Samaritan  woman.— To  draw  Avater.    In  the 

East  the  towns  are  not  supplied,  as  with  us,  by 
means  of  aqueducts  and  water-pipes,  nor  are  in- 
dividual houses  furnished  each  with  its  well. 
The  well  itself  is  usually  excavated  from  the  solid 
limestone  rock,  and  provided  with  a  low  curb  to 
guard  against  accident  (Exod.  21 :  33).  On  such  a 
curb  Christ  probably  sat  to  rest.  The  well  is 
ordinarily  not  furnished  with  any  apparatus  for 
drawing  water.  Each  woman  brings  her  own 
bucket,  most  commonly  made  of  the  skin  of  some- 


Ch.  IV.] 


JOHN. 


53 


7  There  cometh  a  woman  of  Samaria  t:  draw  water: 
Jesus  suith  unti)  her,  Give  me  to  drintc. 

8  (For  his  disciples  were  gone  away  unto  the  city  to 
buy  meat.) 

c)  Then  saith  the  woman  of  Samaria  unto  him,  How 
is  It  that  thou,  being  a  Jew,  askest  drinlc  of  me,  which 
am  a  woman  of  Samaria?  lor  the  Jews  have  no  deal- 
ings "  with  the  Samarit.ins. 

lo  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  her,  If  thou  knewest 


the  giff"  of  God,  and  who  it  is  that  saith  to  thee.  Give 
me  to  drink  ;  thou  wouldest  have  asked  of  him,  and  he 
would  have  given  thee  livings  water. 

11  The  woman  saith  unto  liim.  Sir,  thou  hast  nothing 
to  draw  with,  and  the  well  is  deep :  from  whence  then 
hast  thou  that  living  water? 

12  Art  thou  greater  than  our  father  Jacob,  which 
gave  us  the  well,  and  drank  thereof  himself,  and  his 
children,  and  his  cattle  ? 


Acts  10  :  £8....b  Eph.  2  :  8. 


laa.  12  :  3  J  41  :  17,  18  ;   Jer.  2  :  13 ;  Zech.  13  ;  1 ;  14  :  8  ;  Rev.  22  :  17. 


animal ;  sometimes  the  well  is  shallow,  and  she 
descends  by  steps  made  for  the  purpose  (Gen.  24 :  le), 
and  dips  the  water  up  from  the  surface  ;  if  it  is 
deep,  she  lets  down  her  bucket  with  a  rope.  To 
assist  in  the  work,  a  wheel  or  pulley  is  sometimes 
fixed  over  the  well.  A  trough  of  wood  or  stone 
usually  provides  a  means  for  watering  cattle  and 
sheep  (Gen.  24:20;  Exod.  2:16).  In  this  casc,  Clirist 
had  no  bucket  with  him,  and  the  well  being  deep, 
so  that  he  could  not  descend  into  it,  he  had  no 
means  of  obtaining  water  (ver.  11). — Jesus  saith 
unto  her,  Give  me  to  drink.  Observe  how 
insignificant  a  request  he  makes  the  occasion  for 
a  deeply  spiritual  religious  conversation ;  and 
how  natural  the  transition  from  the  material  to 
the  spiritual.  Observe,  too,  that  by  asking  a 
favor  he  opens  the  way  to  the  granting  of  one. 
He  thus  verifies  the  truth  that  the  way  to  gain 
another's  good  will  is  not  at  first  by  doing,  but  by 
receiving  a  kindness. — His  disciples  were  gone 
.  ...  to  buy  meat.  They  apparently  carried 
little  or  nothing  to  eat  on  their  journeys  (Matt,  le : 
6, 7 ;  12 : 1),  but  money  to  make  the  necessary  pur- 
chases (John  12 : 6).  The  direction  to  depend  on 
hospitality  (Matt.  10 : 9, 10)  was  not  for  theii-  general 
guidance  and  government. 

9.  For  the  JeAvs  have  no  dealings  with 
the  Samaritans.  This  is  taken  by  some  to  be 
said  by  the  woman  ;  more  probably  it  was  added 
parenthetically  by  the  Evangelist,  to  explain  to 
his  Gentile  readers  the  woman's  surprise.  For 
the  reason  of  the  fact,  see  on  verse  4,  It  seems 
clear  that  the  statement  is  not  to  be  taken  liter- 
ally, for  the  disciples,  who  were  Jews,  had  just 
gone  into  the  Samaritan  city  to  purchase  food; 
but  that  there  was  abundant  ground  for  it  is  evi- 
dent from  Rabbinical  writings ;  e.  g.,  "  Let  no 
Israelite  eat  one  mouthful  of  anything  that  is  a 
Samaritan's  ;  for  if  he  eat  but  a  little  mouthful, 
he  is  as  if  he  ate  swine's  flesh." 

10.  If  thou  knewest  the  gift  of  God. 
Not,  If  thou  knew  that  water  is  the  gift  of  God ; 
this  knowledge  might  indeed  have  prevented  her 
seemingly  surly  refusal,  but  it  would  not  have  led 
her  to  ask  living  water  of  him.  Nor,  If  thou 
knevvest  the  peace  and  joy  which  are  the  spiritual 
gifts  of  God  ;  these  constitute  the  living  water, 
and  if  she  already  knew  them,  in  her  experience, 
she  would  not  need  to  ask  to  receive  them.  Christ 
is  the  unspeakable  gift  of  God ;  if  she  knew  the 


full  Importance  of  this  gift,  the  ofllce  and  work 
of  the  Messiah,  and  that  he  who  was  asking  her 
for  a  drink  of  water  was  he,  she  would  have 
asked  and  received  from  him  living  water.  The 
objection  that  the  woman  would  not  have  so 
comprehended  the  reference,  and  therefore  that 
it  cannot  be  the  primary  meaning  {Alforcl^  Meyer), 
is  not  tenable,  because  by  the  very  language  itself 
it  is  implied  that  the  woman  will  not  comprehend 
it.  Christ  speaks  of  a  mystery  to  provoke  her  to 
further  inquiry. — Living  water.  This  phrase 
signifies  primarily  spring  water,  as  opposed  to 
water  in  a  cistern.  In  Gen.  26  :  19  ;  Lev.  li  :  5 ; 
Jer.  2  :  13,  the  word  rendered  "springing,"  "run- 
ning," and  "living,"  is  in  the  Septuagiut  the  one 
here  rendered  "living."  It  is  taken  by  Christ  as 
a  symbol  of  the  spiritual  life  which  he  imparts, 
and  so  as  a  symbol  of  himself,  for  he  gives  him- 
self to  the  soul,  and  is,  by  his  indwelling,  the 
bread  and  water  of  life.  The  spiritual  meaning 
then  is  not  life-giving  ;  for  that  a  different  Greek 
word  would  be  employed  {^Monuiwy,  not  Cwi)- 
It  is  true  that  living  water  is  life-giving,  but  that 
is  not  the  meaning  conveyed  by  the  phrase.  The 
meaning  is  water  that  has  life  in  itself,  as  in  John 
6  :51 ;  "living  bread  "  means  the  living  Christ,  in 
contrast  with  the  inert  manna.  The  significance 
of  the  metaphor  here  is  explained  by  its  connec- 
tion. Christ  compares  himself  with  water,  not 
because  of  its  cleansing  power,  nor  because  of 
its  revivifying  power  on  the  soil,  but  because  he 
satisfies  the  soul's  thirst.  A  similar  metaphorical 
use  of  water  is  to  be  found  in  the  O.  T.  See 
Psalm  23  :  2  ;  Isaiah  .55  : 1 ;  Jer.  2  :  13  ;  but  espe- 
cially Numb.  20  :  8-11,  an  incident  which  it  ap- 
pears to  me  probable  Christ  had  in  mind,  and  one 
with  which  the  woman  was  probably  familiar,  as 
the  Samaritans  accepted  and  employed  the  Pen- 
tateuch. Observe  that  salvation  is  the  gift  of 
God  (Rom.  6 :  23),  and  that  the  only  condition  of  re- 
ceiving it  is  asking  (Matt.  S  :  6  ;  7  :  7  ;  Rev.  22  :  17).     The 

water'  is  always  ready  ;  it  is  the  thirst  only  that 

is  wanting  (Luke  U:  17-19). 

11,  12.  Sire,  Thou  hast  no  bucket,  and 
the  well  is  deep.  Not  spring;  the  water 
chamber,  not  the  water  source  Upoiuo  not  ntiyv)- 
See  on  ver.  6.  The  language  is  that  of  badinage. 
It  is  analogous  to  that  of  Nicodemus  in  ch.  3:4; 
though  here,  commingled  with  irony,  there  may 
well  have  been  a  real  perplexity.    The  original 


54 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  IV. 


13  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  her,  Whosoever 
drinketh  of  this  water  shall  thirst  again  : 

14  But  whosoever''  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall 
give*  him  shall  never  thirst ;  but  the  water  that  I  shall 
give  him  shall  be  in  himf  a  well  of  water  springing  up 
into  everlasting  life. 


15  The  woman  saith  unto  him.  Sir,  give  me- 
this  water,  that  I  thirst  not,  neither  come  hither 
to  draw. 

16  Jesus  saith  unto  her.  Go,  call  thy  husband,  and 
come  hither. 

17  The  woman  answered  and  said,  I  have  no  hus- 


d  ch.  6  :  35,  58  . .  .e  ch.  17  :  2,  3 ;  Rom.  6  :  23. . .  .f  ch.  7  : 


indicates  a  change  in  the  woman's  tone  ;  she  at 
first  says,  How  is  it  that  thou  being  a  Jeiu  ?  she 
now  addresses  him  as  "(S'ire"  {y.vQn). — Our 
father  Jacob,  etc.  The  Samaritans  traced 
their  origin  back  to  the  patriarchs,  and  her 
language  here  implies  a  claim  to  an  ancestry 
superior  to  that  of  the  Jews,  among  whom  she 
classed  Jesus.  Observe  an  illustration  of  the 
spirit  which  says,  What  sufficed  for  our  fathers 
is  good  enough  for  us,  no  one  can  be  greater 
than  they  ;  a  spirit  which  is  fatal  to  all  progress, 
in  either  material  or  spiritual  things. 

13,  14.  Every  one  drinking  of  this 
water ;  accustomed  to  drink  of  it,  and  relying 
upon  it.  "The  'drinking'  sets  forth  the  recur- 
rence, the  internipted  seasons  of  the  drinking 
of  earthly  water." —(4{/c>;-cZ.)  — Shall  thirst 
again.  He  appeals  in  this  to  the  woman's 
experience,  who  comes  daily  to  re-supply  the 
ever-recurring  want. — But  whosoever  has 
drunk;  once  for  all;  the  tense  (aorist,  nl\\) 
indicates  an  historical  act  once  performed. — 
That  I  shall  give  to  him.  Observe  the 
representation  throughout  that  the  water  is  a 
gift,  and  a  gift  not  received  by  Christ  in  common 
Avith  humanity,  but  giveti  by  Christ  to  humanity. 
The  Bible  may  be  searched  in  vain  for  similar 
language  from  any  prophet  or  apostle. — Shall 
not  thirst  unto  eternity.  That  is,  shall 
never,  even  unto  eternity,  thirst.  "The  whole 
verse  is  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  perpetuity  of  grace,  and  the 
consequent  perseverance  and  the  faith  of  be- 
lievers."—(^1/fc.)  Comp.  ch.  10:38;  Rom.  8  : 
35-39 ;  2  Tim.  1  :  13.— But  the  Avater  which 
I  shall  give  him.  This  Christ  does  by  giving 
his  own  life  for  the  life  of  the  world  in  his 
sacrifice  for  sin  (ch.  6 :  si)  and  in  his  spiritual 
indwelling  in  the  soul  of  the  believer  (ch.  u :  19, 23). 
— Shall  become  in  him  a  fountain  of 
water.  Not  a  well  (not  (pQiuQ  but  Tnlyi;').  The 
reason  he  shall  never  thirst  is  that  the  water 
which  Christ  gives  becomes  itself  a  water 
source,  a  spring,  a  perpetual  fountain  of 
supply.  —  Springing  up  unto  eternal  life. 
Not  into;  the  preposition  indicates  not  some- 
thing into  which  the  fountain  will  be  trans- 
formed, but  the  duration  of  its  existence  ;  it 
will  forever  spring  up  in  the  soul.  The  contrast 
throughout  these  verses  is  between  earthly  and 
spiritual  supplies.  The  well  ((pQioQ)  is  a  symbol 
of    earthly   supply.      This  appeases  but  never 


satisfies ;  for  it  furnishes  that  which  is  external, 
and  which  is  consumed  in  the  using,  so  that 
the  soul  which  relies  on  earthly  cisterns  for  its 
satisfaction  thirsts  again.  The  living  water,  the 
spring  (^ijyi;)  which  Christ  gives,  becomes  a 
fountain  in  the  soul,  it  enters  into  and  becomes 
part  of  the  character ;  using  does  not  consume 
but  increases  the  supply.  In  Christ's  promise 
here  thirst  is  not  equivalent  to  "desire,"  nor  is 
the  declaration  "  shall  never  thirst,"  equivalent 
to  "shall  never  feel  any  spiritual  want."  Thirst 
is  of  all  bodily  cravings  the  most  painful  and 
intolerable.  Hence  it  is  used  in  the  Bible  as  a 
metaphor,  not  merely  of  spiritual  desires,  but  of 
an   urgent  and  intense  desire,   that  cannot  be 

denied  (Psahu  42  :  2  ;   63  :  1  ;    143  :  6  j    Isaiah  55  :  1  ;   Matt.  5  :  6, 

note).  Here  then  the  declaration  is  that  Christ 
satisfies  this  painful  longing,  so  that  the  soul 
shall  experience  it  no  more.  Of  soul-thirst  we 
have  striking  illustrations  in  Psalms  41  and  43, 
and  in  Rom.  7  :  17-34 ;  of  soul-satisfaction  in 
Christ,  illustrations  in  Psalm  46  and  in  Rom.  8  : 
31-39.  Compare  Christ's  promises  in  John  11  : 
26 ;  16  :  33,  33.  The  continuance  of  earnest 
spiritual  desires  is  not  inconsistent  with  a  rich 
spiritual  experience.    See  Phil.  3  :  12-14. 

15.  There  is  certainly  a  difference  in  tone 
between  this  request  and  the  answer  of  verses 
11,  13.  The  woman  now  dimly  recognizes  and 
vaguely  appreciates  Christ's  interpretation  of 
her  own  soul-want,  and  replies  half  hi  jest,  half 
in  earnest.  But  her  language  "neither  come 
hither  to  draw,"  shows  that  she  still  gives  to 
Christ's  words,  as  I  think  purposely  misinter- 
preting them,  a  prosaic  and  literal  meaning. 
Observe  the  implied  misapprehension  of  the 
office  of  Christ,  as  one  who  relieves  the  soul  of 
all  further  care  and  labor  in  the  matter  of 
religion.  "There  are  many  like  her  who  would 
be  glad  of  such  a  divine  gift  of  religion  as  should 
take  away  all  the  labor  and  trouble  of  Christian 
life.  'That  I  come  not  hither  to  draw'  is  the 
desire  of  thousands  who  want  thfe  results  of 
right  living  without  the  trouble  of  living 
aright." — {H.  W.  JBeecher.) 

16.  Go,  call  thy  husband,  etc.  This  is 
in  appearance  a  break  in  the  conversation  ;  it  is 
in  reality  the  first  step  toward  granting  the 
woman's  request:  "Give  me  this  water;"  for 
the  first  step  is  to  convince  of  sin.  It  is  only  if 
we  confess  our  sins  that  "He  is  faithful  and  just 
to  forgive  us  our  sins  and  to  cleanse  us  from 


AT    THE    WELL. 

"  "Whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall  g-ive  him  shall 
never  thirst." 


Ch.  IV.] 


JOHN. 


55 


band.    Jesus  said  unto  her,  Thou  hast  well  said,  I  have 
no  husband  : 

i8  For  thou  hast  had  five  husbands  ;  and  he  whom 
thou  now  hast  is  not  thy  husband :  in  that  saidst  thou 
truly. 


19  The  woman  saith  unto  him,  Sir,  I  perceive  ^  that 
thou  art  a  jirophet. 

20  Our  latlicrs  worshipped  in  this  mountain  j""  and 
ye  say,  that  in  Jerusalem'  is  the  place  where  men 
ought  to  worship. 


g  ch.  1  :48,  49....h  Judges  9  :  T i  Deut.  12:S-]1;  1  KiQgs9  :  3. 


all  unrighteousness"  (i  John  i  :  9).  Hence  when 
Christ  came  to  bring  this  water  of  life  to  the 
world  he  began  by  preaching  the  duty  of  repent- 
ance (Matt.  4 :  n  ;  Mark  1 :  is).  Other  explanations,  as 
that  a  longer  conversation  with  the  woman  alone 
would  be  indecorous  (Oroiius),  or  that  she  was 
unable  to  understand  Christ's  meaning  and  so  he 
summoned  her  husband  ( C//rt7,  quoted  in  Aiford), 
or  that  he  wished  her  husband  to  share  with  her 
in  the  benefits  of  the  conversation  {Ohrysostom), 
singularly  ignore  the  moral  meaning  and  continu- 
ity of  the  discourse.  Observe  Christ's  uniform 
way  of  dealing  with  skepticism.  Its  root  is  in 
sin ;  and  he  addresses  not  the  reason,  but 
proceeds  directly  to  convict  the  conscience.  It 
is  only  the  sinner,  conscious  of  sin,  who  ever 
truly  finds  a  divine  Saviour. 

17,  18.  The  word  («i>i(j)  in  Christ's  reply, 
rendered  husband,  is  one  of  more  general  import 
and  is  often  translated  tnayt.  But  it  is  the 
ordinary  word  used  in  the  N.  T.  for  husband, 
and  I  see  no  reason  to  doubt  that  she  had  lived 
with  five  successive  husbands.  From  these  she 
had  been  separated,  from  some  perhaps  by  death, 
from  others  by  divorce  ;  at  all  events  the  last 
of  these  separations  was  unconcealedly  illegal, 
and  her  present  life  was  one  which  her  own 
conscience  condemned  as  licentious.  Observe 
the  severity  in  fact  and  the  gentleness  in  form 
of  Christ's  rebuke.  It  shows  a  full  knowledge 
of  her  sin  ;  yet  it  is  couched  in  the  language  not 
of  condemnation  but  of  commendation. 

19,  20.  The  woman  saith  unto  him. 
Her  sentence  is  incomplete,  either  in  the  utter- 
ance or  in  the  report.  It  is  the  basis  of  a 
question,  implied,  or  perhaps  expressed,  but 
not  given  by  John,  in  which  place  should 
worship  be  offered ;  which  were  right,  Jew  or 
Samaritan.  The  question  was  one  fiercely 
debated  between  them  (see  on  verse  5). — I  per- 
ceive that  thou  art  a  prophet.  It  was  a 
hasty  conclusion ;  Christ  might  have  kno\vn  her 
character  and  life  by  other  than  supernatural 
means.  Bigotry  and  vice  are  apt  to  be  credulous 
and  superstitious.  Observe,  however,  the  dif- 
ference in  tone  between  this  declaration  and  the 
language  of  verse  9:  "How  is  it  that  thou 
being  a  Jew." — Our  fathers  Avorshipped. 
"The  argument  of  'our  fathers'  has  always 
proved  strong.  Opinions,  like  electricity,  are 
supposed  to  descend  more  safely  along  an 
unbroken  chain.  That  which  'our  fathers'  or 
our  ancestors  believed,  is  apt  to  seem  necessarily 


true  ;  and  the  larger  the  roots  of  any  belief,  the 
more  flourishing,  it  is  supposed,  will  be  its  top." 
— {Beechcr.)  Calvin's  comments  are  admirable 
though  too  long  to  quote.  He  suggests  four 
errors  into  which  men  are  apt  to  fall,  from 
blindly  following  the  '■'■fathers,''''  all  illustrated 
by  the  Samaritans  :  (1)  When  pride  has  created 
a  false  custom  or  religion,  the  history  of  the 
fathers  is  ransacked  to  find  justification  for  it ; 
(2)  when  men  imitate  the  example  of  the  evil- 
doers, because  they  are  ancient,  forgetful  that 
they  only  are  worthy  to  be  reckoned  as  fathers- 
who  are  true  sons  of  God ;  (3)  when  we  imitate 
the  conduct  but  not  the  spirit  of  the  fathers,  as 
if  one  should  defend  human  sacrifice  from  the 
example  of  Abraham  in  Gen.  23  : 1-10  ;  (4)  when 
we  imitate  the  conduct  of  the  fathers  without 
considering  the  change  of  circumstances,  as 
when  the  Christian  church  attempts  to  copy  the 
ceremonials  of  the  Jewish.  "None  of  these  are 
true  imitators  of  the  fathers ;  most  of  them  are 
apes." — In  this  mount,  Gerizim.  According 
to  the  Samaritan  tradition  it  was  here  that 
Abraham  went  to  sacrifice  Isaac  ;  and  here,  not 
on  Ebal,  as  according  to  our  Scripture  (josh.  8 :  so ; 
Deut.  27 : 4),  that  the  altar  was  erected  by  Joshua 
on  which  the  words  of  the  law  were  inscribed. 
The  first  view  is  sanctioned  by  some  Christian 
scholars,  prominent  among  whom  is  Dean  Stan- 
ley. A  temple  was  built  on  Gerizim  by  the 
Samaritans,  according  to  Josephus,  during  the 
reign  of  Alexander,  though  the  date  is  doubtful. 
The  two  temples  intensified  the'bitterness  of  the 
feud  between  the  Jews  and  the  Samaritans,  and 
the  Samaritan  temple  was  deserted  and  de- 
stroyed, B.  c.  129,  by  John  Hyrcanus  (josephus' 
Antiquities  13 : 9,  ii) ;  but  the  Samaritans  at  Sechem 
(Nablus)  still  call  Gerizim  the  holy  mountain, 
and  turn  their  faces  toward  it  in  prayer. — Ye 
say.    She  still  treats  Christ  as  a  Jew. 

Some  have  regarded  the  question  presented 
by  the  woman  here  as  a  serious  one  ;  recognizing 
Christ  as  a  prophet,  she  asks  his  solution  of  what 
was  to  her  mind  the  great  religious  problem  of 
the  day ;  others  see  in  it  an  endeavor  on  her 
part  to  evade  the  personal  reference  to  her  own 
sins.  Both  seem  to  me  true.  She  endeavors  to 
turn  the  conversation ;  recognizing  the  truth  of 
Christ's  allegation,  "He  whom  thou  now  hast 
is  not  thy  husband,"  not  by  confessing  her  sin 
but  by  acknowledging  him  as  a  prophet ;  but 
eludes  the  topic  by  opening  a  problem  in  con- 
troversial theology.    In  all  this  she  is  honest 


56 


JOHX. 


[Ch.  IV 


21  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Woman,  believe  me,  the 
hour  cometh,  when  ye '  shall  neither  in  tliis  mountain, 
nor  yet  at  Jerusalem,  worship  the  Father. 

22  Ve  worship''  ye  know  not  what:  we  know  what 
we  worship :  for  salvation'  is  of  the  Jews. 


23  But  the  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  true 
worshippers  shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit™  and  in 
truth :  for  the  Father  seeketh  such  to  worship  him. 

24  God  "  is  a  Spirit :  and  they  that  worship  him  must 
worship  Aim  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 


j  JIal.  1:11;  M.itt.  18;  iO k  2  Kings  17  :  29 1  Isn.  2  ;  3  ;  Rom.  9:5 m  Phil.  3:3 u  2  Cor.  3  :  17. 


and  in  earnest.  She  is  not  the  first  inquirer 
who  has  deemed  theoretical  theology  more 
important  than  practical  duty.  The  moment 
her  thoughts  are  turned  to  religious  truth,  they 
tend  to  its  external  aspects,  and  she  naturally 
and  honestly  seeks  a  refuge  from  her  conscience 
in  the  question,.  Where  ought  men  to  worship  ? 
The  question,  What  ought  /  to  do "?  is  postponed. 
Observe  that  Christ  suffers  her  to  change  the 
subject ;  leaves  her  conscience  to  press  the  sin 
to  which  he  has  awakened  it,  and  teaches  his 
followers  how  to  deal  with  those  who  evade 
practical  duty  by.  doctrinal  or  ceremonial  ques- 
tions by  his  own  response,  No  matter  u'here  or 
hoiv  the  soul  seeks  God,  if  it  only  seeks  him  in 
spirit  and  in  truth. 

21-24.  Believe  me.  This  expression  is 
nowhere  else  used  by  our  Lord.  It  answers  to 
his  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you"  (Matt.  5:  is, 
note),  and  to  Paul's  "This  is  a  faithful  (i.  e.,  trust- 
worthy)   saying"    (l  Tim.  l  :  is,    4:9;    Tit.  3  :  s).      He 

employs  it  here  because  his  declaration  is  partly 
in  the  nature  of  a  prophecy,  which  must  be 
accepted,  if  at  all,  upon  simple  trust  in  him. — 
The  hour  cometh.  The  word  hour  is  here 
equivalent  to  time  or  season ;  this  use  of 
"hour"   is  not    infrequent    in    John's    Gospel 

(ch.  2:1;    5  ;  25,    2S,  35,    "  SmSC«l  ;  "    8  :  20,    etc.). — WheU 

ye  shall  neither  in  this  mountain  nor  yet 
at    Jerusalem    worship    the    Father,     A 

prophecy  which  was  speedily,  perhaps  in  the 
lifetime  of  this  woman,  fulfilled.  The  ravaging 
of  Palestine  by  the  Roman  armies,  and  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  thi  dispersion  of 
the  Jews,  has  scattered  the  worshippers  through- 
out the  world.  The  Samaritan  sect  is  indeed 
extinct,  except  the  few  survivors  at  Nablus, 
but  the  Jews  continue  their  worship  in  exile  in 
every  land  (Mai.  i :  ii).— Ye  Avorship  ye  know 
not  Avhat.  Their  ignorance  concerning  the 
nature  of  the  true  God  is  indicated  in  their  early 
history  (2  icings  n  :  24-34).  The  woman  was  solicit- 
ous concerning  the  j^^^^c^  of  worship ;  Christ 
directs  her  thought  toward  the  person  to  be 
worshipped. — We  know  Avhat  we  worship. 
This  is  the  only  instance  in  which  Christ  classes 
himself  with  the  Jews  by  the  pronoun  we.  He 
accepts,  for  the  time,  her  estimate  of  him  as  a 
Jewish  prophet,  and  declares  that  it  is  m  the 
Jewish  Scripture  she  is  to  look  for  a  knowledge 
of  the  true  God.  In  fact,  all  correct  knowledge 
of  the  character,  attributes,  and  dealings  of  God, 
possessed  by  the  world  to-day,  has  come  through 


the  Jewish  people,  by   means  of  the  Old  and 

New  Te^tamentS  (see  Romans  3  :  1,  2  ;   9  :  4,  5).      At   the 

time  of  this  conversation  idolatry  had  entirely 
disappeared  from  the  Jewish  nation ;  and 
however  inadequate,  imijerfeet,  and  corrupt 
their  worship,  they  at  least  recognized  the  one 
only  true  God.  Notwithstanding  some  efforts 
to  prove  the  contrary,  I  think  it  is  historically 
demonstrable  that  Judaism  is  the  source  of  all 
monotheistic  religion.  It  is  reasonably  certain 
that  the  monotheism  of  Mohammedanism  is  due 
to  Mohammed's  early  instruction  in  the  princi- 
ples of  Judaism. — For  the  salvation  is  of 
the  JeAvs.  The  definite  article  in  the  original, 
unfortunately  omitted  in  our  English  version, 
gives  not  only  emphasis  but  significance  to  the 
language.  The  Jews  know  what  they  worship, 
because  it  is  from  them,  as  a  nation,  that  there 
comes  forth  the  divine  salvation,  typified  by  the 
sacrifices  at  Jerusalem,  prophesied  by  Jewish 
Scrijoture,  and  fulfilled  by  the  Messiah  born  at 
Bethlehem  in  Judea.  It  is  therefore  here  equiv- 
alent not  merely  to  the  Saviour,  but  also  includes 
all  the  preparations  -^^'hich  preceded  his  personal 
advent. — But  the  hour  cometh  and  now  is. 
The  last  clause  is  added  parenthetically  as  a 
suggestion  that  the  Avoman  is  not  to  look  to  the 
remote  future  for  the  fulfillment  of  this  word. 
Already  the  day  has  dawned,  though  it  has  not 
fully  arrived.  Her  language  in  verse  25  indicates 
that  a  susi^ieion  of  Christ's  true  nature  was, 
perhaps  b}'  this  declaration,  awakened  in  her. — 
When  the  true  worshippers.  Not  merely 
the  sincere  in  opposition  to  consciously  hypo- 
critical worshippers  (isai.-ih  29 :  13),  but  also  the 
true,  inward  worshippers,  in  opposition  to  those 
whose  worship  was  one  of  external  form  and 
therefore  not  genuine.  The  word  true  is  else- 
where used  thus  by  John  to  indicate  the  inward 
and  spiritual  as  contrasted  with  the  external  and 
earthly,  e.  g.,  the  true  light  (1  : 9),  the  true  bread 
(6  :  32),  the  true  vine  (15 ;  1).  Compare  Luke  16  : 
11. — Shall  Avorship  the  Father,  and  there- 
fore know  what  they  worship  ;  in  spirit  and 
in  truth.  Not  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  though  it  is 
true  that  all  spiritual  worship  is  inspired  and 
directed  by  his  influence  (Rom.  8 :  26 ;  zach.  12 :  10) ;  nor 
with  the  breathing  and  aspirations  of  the  heart, 
in  contrast  to  worship  with  outward  forms  and 
symbols,  for  symbol  is  necessary  in  all  public 
worship,  language  is  but  an  external  symbol  of 
inward  feeling ;  nor  in  holiness  and  righteous- 
ness of  life,  for  that  is  not  the  meaning  of  spirit ; 


Ch.  IV.] 


JOHN. 


57 


25  The  woman  saitli  unto  him,  I  know  that  Messias 
Cometh,  vvliich  is  called  Christ:  when  he  is  come,  lie 
will  tell  us  all  things. 


26  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  1°  that  speak   unto  thee 
am  he. 

27  And  upon  this  came  his  disciples,  and  marvelled 


nor  in  soundness  of  faith,  in  contrast  to  heretical 
worship,  for  the  worship  of  the  Jews  was  not 
heretical,  Christ  has  just  said,  "  We  know  what 
we  worship."  In  (ii)  expresses  not  the  instru- 
ment with  which  the  worship  shall  be  conducted, 
but  the  atmosphere  in  which  it  will  livu,  an 
atmosphere  of  spiritual  life  and  truth  ;  worship 
in  spirit,  is  in  contrast  with  a  worship  in  the 
flesh,  the  essence  of  which  consists  in  the  rite, 
the  form,  the  language,  the  posture  (comp.  Rom. 

J2  :  1  ;   Phil.  3  :  3,  4  ;    Heb.  9  :  9,  24)  ;    WOrsllip  in  truth   iS 

one  which  in  its  character  harmonizes  with  the 
nature  of  him  who  is  worshipped.  The  Lyca- 
onians  would  liave  worshipped  Paul  and  Barnabas 
(Acts  14 :  11-13)  in  sincerity,  but  not  in  truth. 
Christ's  language  condemns  the  spirit  of  ritual- 
ism, but  not  the  employment  of  rites. — For 
the  Father  is  seeking  such  to  worship 
him.  God  is  represented  as  in  quest  of  such 
worshippers,  among  the  many  who  are  worship- 
pers merely  in  form.  Observe  work  is  not  worship ; 
<jod  is  seeking  not  merely  workers  (Matt.  20  :i) 

but   also    worshippers    (Comp.    Luke  10  :  38-i2,   notes). — 

God  is  a  Spirit.  This  declaration  is  funda- 
mental, and  radically  inconsistent  with  (1)  all 
scientific  theories  which  represent  him  as  an 
abstract  impersonal  force  ;  (2)  with  all  meta- 
physical refinements  which,  ignoring  his  person- 
ality, treat  him  as  a  "power  that  makes  for 
righteousness,"  or  as  "the  highest  dream  of 
which  the  human  soul  is  capable;"  (3)  with 
much  of  the  received  theology,  which  often 
assumes  that  God  is  like  nature,  and  deduces 
his  attributes  from  such  an  imaginary  likeness ; 
(4)  with  all  idolatry,  whether  the  idol  be  in  the 
imagination  or  in  wood,  stone,  or  canvas.  But 
it  justifies  us  in  looking  toman's  spiritual  nature 
to  interpret  the  divine  nature  to  us.  The  spirit- 
uality of  God  is  abundantly  taught  in  the  O.  T., 
but  by  implication  only.  The  abstract  statement 
occurs  only  here  and  in  2  Cor.  3  :  17. — Alust 
worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  Noth- 
ing else  is  worship. 

Observe  (1)  Christ  answers  the  woman's  ques- 
tion not  by  pointing  out  the  right  place  of  wor- 
ship, but  by  inculcating  such  a  conception  of  the 
true  nature  of  worship,  that  the  controversy 
respecting  Gerizim  and  Jerusalem  shrinks  into 
insignificance.  The  solution  of  many  theological 
problems  is  to  be  found,  not  in  any  answer, 
but  in  a  new,  a  higher,  a  more  spiritual  concep- 
tion of  religion  as  a  spiritual  life.  (2)  The  place, 
and  impliedly  the  forms  and  methods  of  worship, 
are  matters  of  no  importance.  (3)  It  is  impor- 
tant that  we  know  what  we  worship,  i.  e.,  that 


our  worship  be  intelligent,  else  it  is  superstitious. 
"  Unless  there  be  knowledge,  it  is  not  God  that 
we  worship,  but  a  phantom  or  idol." — (Calvin.) 
(4)  That  knowledge  includes  three  elements,  viz., 
that  God  is  a. spiritual  being,  with  the  sympathies, 
the  flexibility,  the  life  which  belongs  to  spirit ; 
that  he  is  a  Father,  and  is  therefore  to  be  ap- 
proached with  a  filial,  reverential,  trusting  af- 
fection (Matt.  6 : 9,  note) ;  that  he  is  revealed  to  us 
through  the  Jewish  Scripture  and  the  Jewish 
Messiah.  (.5)  He  must  be  worshipped  in  spirit, 
i.  e.,  with  the  heart,  and  in  truth,  i.  «.,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  realities  of  his  nature  as  thus  re- 
vealed to  us ;  nothing  else  is  worship.  (G)  Wor- 
ship is  essential  to  a  religious  life.  God  looks  for 
it,  as  well  as  for  work,  as  an  evidence  of  love. 
The  whole  lesson  is  eloquently  embodied  by 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  in  his  Life  of  Christ :  "It 
expresses  the  renunciation  of  the  senses  in  wor- 
ship. It  throws  back  upon  the  heart  and  soul  of 
every  one,  whoever  he  may  be,  wherever  he  may 
be,  the  whole  office  of  worship.  It  is  the  first 
gleam  of  the  new  morning.  No  longer  in  this 
nest  alone,  or  in  that,  shall  religion  be  looked  for, 
but  escaping  from  its  shell,  heard  in  all  the  earth, 
in  notes  the  same  in  every  language,  flying  unre- 
strained and  free,  the  whole  heavens  shall  be  its 
sphere  and  the  whole  earth  its  home." 

35,  2G.  The  Avoman  saith  unto  him. 
Chrysostom  well  expresses  her  spirit:  "The 
woman  was  made  dizzy  by  his  discourse,  and 
fainted  at  the  sublimity  of  what  he  said."  So 
she  turns  away  from  the  present  revelation,  pro- 
crastinating its  application  with  the  expectation 
of  a  better  opportunity  when  the  Messiah  comes. 
— He  will  tell  us  all  things  is  not  to  be  inter- 
preted literally ;  it  is  the  expression  of  a  vague 
hope  of  a  clearer  light  by  and  by. — I  that  speak 
unto  thee  am  he.  Christ  did  not  until  a  much 
later  period  declare  his  Messiahship  to  his  own 
disciples;  he  never  declared  it  more  clearly  than 
to  this  sinful  Samaritan  woman.  There  is  a  rea- 
son for  it,  in  that  this  declaration  took  from  her 
all  excuse  of  procrastination,  and  in  fact  made 
her  a  missionary  of  the  Messiah.  Perhaps,  too, 
the  very  fact  that  she  was  an  uninfluential  woman 
and  a  Samaritan  may  have  made  him  more  ready 
to  reveal  himself ;  for  it  was  certainly  his  general 
IDurpose  not  to  disclose  his  character  and  mission 
to  the  public  until  his  death  (Matt,  n  :9).  We  cer- 
tainly have  no  right  to  say,  with  some  rational- 
izing critics,  that  because  we  cannot  fully  under- 
stand his  reasons  it  is  incredible.  Siich  a  method 
of  criticism  would  make  havoc  of  all  historj'. 
Most  scholars  suppose  that  the  words  "which  is 


58 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  IV. 


that  he  talked  with  the  woman :  yet  no  man  said,  What 
seekest  thou  ?  or,  Why  talkest  thou  with  her  ? 

28  The  woman  then  left  her  waterpot,  and  went  her 
way  into  the  city,  and  saith  to  the  men, 


called  Christ"  were  spoken  by  the  woman.  It 
seems  to  me  more  probable  that  they  were  added 
by  John,  as  an  explanation  to  his  Greek  readers 
of  the  Hebrew  term  Messiah.  The  word  Christ 
is  its  Greek  equivalent. 

Note  on  Christ  as  a  conversationalist. — 
Christ  as  a  preacher  has  been  studied  ;  Christ  as 
a  conversationalist  is  quite  as  worthy  the  Chris- 
tian's study.  Many  of  his  so-called  discourses 
were  simply  conversations ;  this  is  notably  the 
case  with  the  discourse  to  Nicodemus  (ch.  3 :  1-21) 
and  the  discourse  here  to  the  woman  of  Samaria. 
Observe,  I.  The  contrast.  In  the  first  the  conver- 
sation is  with  a  religious  teacher,  of  honorable 
position,  of  unexceptionable  life  ;  in  the  second, 
with  an  abandoned  woman,  of  licentious  life  ;  in 
the  first,  conversation  with  Christ  is  sought,  in 
the  second,  repelled  ;  in  the  first,  Christ  impresses 
the  truth  that  the  moralist  must  be  born  again, 
and  without  personal  trust  in  a  personal  Saviour 
is  condemned  ;  in  the  second,  he  impresses  upon 
the  outcast  the  truth  that  for  the  lost  there  is 
new  life  in  him ;  the  first  he  discourages,  the 
second  encourages ;  to  the  first  he  proclaims 
duty,  to  the  second  he  preaches  deliverance. 
II.  The  harmony.  Both  are  skeptical ;  both  re- 
ceive his  declaration  with  scoffs  ;  both  invite  ar- 
gument ;  with  both  Christ  refuses  to  argue ;  to 
both  he  simply  proclaims  the  truth,  but  without 
strife  or  debate ;  with  both  he  conquers  cavilling 
by  patience,  not  by  argument.  III.  ChrisVs 
method,  (a.)  Though  wearied,  he  does  not  neglect 
the  occasion  and  opportunity  afforded  to  him. 
(6.)  He  commences  the  conversation  by  a  natural 
request,  (c.)  He  opens  the  woman's  heart  by  re- 
questing from  her  a  favor,  (d.)  He  passes,  by  a 
natural  transition,  from  the  physical  to  the  spir- 
itual world,  from  nature  to  the  truth  which 
nature  typifies  (e.)  He  presents  to  her  not  ethi- 
cal, but  spiritual  truth  ;  not  the  simple  moralities, 
but  the  deep  things  of  the  Gospel.  (/.)  Her  badi- 
nage does  not  affront  him,  nor  does  he  reprove 
her  for  it,  or  indicate  surprise,  astonishment,  or 
even  objection.  (</. )  He  answers  it  by  a  direct  and 
unanswerable  appeal  to  her  conscience,  by  con- 
victing her  of  sm.  (/( .)  In  this,  while  his  rebuke  is 
sharp,  his  language  is  courteous,  the  language  of 
commendation  clothing  condemnation,  (i.)  Hav- 
ing once  awakened  her  conscience,  he  does  not 
pursae  the  rebuke ;  leaving  conscience  to  do  its 
work,  he  suffers  her  to  change  the  subject,  (j.)  He 
answers  her  theological  question  not  by  direct 
response,  but  by  asserting  a  principle  of  worship 
which  lifts  the  soul  above  all  controversies  re- 
specting forms  and  methods  of  worship,    {k.)  Fi- 


29  Come,  see  a  man,  which  told  me  all  things  that 
ever  I  did  :  is  not  this  the  Christ  ? 

30  Then  they  went  out  of  the  city,  and  came  unto 
him. 


nally,  he  makes  his  first  and  fullest  disclosure  of 
his  Messiahship  to  this  Samaritan  woman,  show- 
ing himself  most  a  Saviour  to  her  who  most 
needs  his  salvation,  IV.  His  example.  It  illus- 
trates   the    enthusiasm    (Rom.  10  :  1  ;   Col.  4  :  13  ;   2  Tim. 

4 : 2),  the  skill  (Prov.  11 :  3o),  the  patience  (2 Tim.  2: 24; 
1  Thess.  2:7),  and  the  spirituality  (1  cor.  2 :  13, 14)  need- 
ed for  the  most  efficient,  direct,  personal  work 
of  soul-saving. 

Cli.  4:27-12.  CHRIST  IN  SAMARIA.— The  susten- 
ance OF  Christian  laboeees.— The  call  for  Chris- 
tian LABORERS.— Their  reward. — Their  success. 

27-30.  And  marveHed  that  he  talked 
with  a  woman.  There  is  no  definite  article  in 
the  original.  The  disciples  knew  nothing  of  the 
woman's  character  except  that  she  was  a  Samar- 
itan. What  amazed  them  was  that  Christ  should 
descend  to  instruct  a  woman  at  all,  and  especially 
a  woman  of  Samaria.  See  above  on  ver.  4. — No 
man  said,  What  seekest  thou  ?  One  of  the 
many  indications  in  the  Gospel  of  the  awe  in 
which    these    life-companions    of    Christ    stood 

toward     him    (Mark  9:  32;   10:32;  16:8;    Luke  8  :  25 ;  Joha 

21 :  12).  —  Left  her  Avaterpot.  Lightfoot  sup- 
poses in  kindness,  for  the  Lord  to  use  ;  Calvin, 
with  greater  probability,  in  her  haste  forgetting- 
it.  In  her  eagerness  to  carry  to  others  the  news 
of  the  Messiah,  she  forgets  her  original  errand, 
which  was  to  draw  water  for  her  home. — Come 
see  a  man.  Compare  ch.  1  :  39,  4(3. — Which 
told  me  all  things  that  ever  I  did.  The 
natural  exaggeration  of  enthusiasm.  Observe 
the  method  of  the  spread  of  Christianity  in  its- 
earliest  years.  The  new  convert  became  a  mis- 
sionary, propagating  its  faith.  Compare  Acts- 
8  :  4 ;  9  :  CO.  If  ever  a  new  convert  might  be 
excused  from  evangelical  labors,  this  one  might — 
a  woman,  living  in  an  age  when  female  preaching 
was  more  obnoxious  even  than  now,  and  a  woman 
of  such  ill-repute  that  she  might  well  expect  to 
be  received  with  scorn,  not  with  respect.  But 
her  strong  convictions  overbear  all  obstacles,  se- 
cure for  her  a  hearing,  and  obtain  for  her  mission 
success  (ver.  39).  Chrysostom  dwells  upon  her 
wisdom  as  well  as  her  eagerness :  "She  said  not, 
Come,  see  the  Christ,  but,  with  the  same  conde- 
scension with  which  Christ  had  netted  her,  she 
draws  the  men  to  Him ;  Come,  she  saith,  see  a 
man  who  told  me  all  that  ever  I  did.  Is  not 
this  the  Christ?  Observe  again  here  the  great 
wisdom  of  the  woman ;  she  neither  declared  the 
fact  plainly,  nor  was  she  silent ;  for  she  desired 
not  to  bring  them  in  by  her  own  assertion,  but  to 
make  them  to  share  in  this  opinion  by  hearing 


Ch.  IV.] 


JOHN. 


59 


31  In  the  mean  while  his  disciples  prayed  him,  say- 
ing, Master,  eat. 

32  But  lie  said  unto  them,  I  have  meat  to  eat  that  ye 
know  not  of. 

33  Tlieretore  said  the  disciples  one  to  another,  Hatli 
any  man  brought  him  ought  1 1  eat  ? 


34  Jesus  saith  unto  them.  My  meaf  is  to  do  the  will 
of  liim  tliat  sent  nie,  and  to  finish 'i  his  worlt. 

35  Say  not  ye.  There  are  yet  lour  months,  and  then 
cometli  harvest  ?  behold,  I  say  unto  you,  Lift  up  your 
eyes,  and  look  on  the  fields;  tor  they  are  white  already 
to  harvest.' 


p  ch.  6  :  38;  Job  23  :  12.... q  ch.  11  : 4. 


him.  *  *  *  Nor  did  she  say,  Come,  believe,  but 
Come,  see,  a  gentler  expression  thau  the  other, 
and  one  which  more  attracted  them." — Then 
they  came  out  of  the  cit  y.  Wisdom  and  tact 
inspired  by  enthusiasm  produced  by  a  personal 
and  profound  conviction  of  Christ's  person  and 
power,  rarely  fail  in  evangelical  labor. 

31-33.  Master,  eat.  The  disciples  had 
brought  food  from  the  city,  to  obtain  which  they 
had  originally  left  him  (vcr.  s). — I  have  meat  to 
eat  that  ye  know  not  of.  The  commentators 
generally  assume  that  the  doing  of  his  Father's 
will  was  this  meat.  This  seems  to  me  a  false 
interpretation  not  required  by  and  not  really 
accordant  with  a  correct  reading  of  ver.  34  below 
(see  note  there) ;  inconsistent  with  other  teach- 
ings of  Scripture,  and  practically  misleading  to 
the  disciple.  It  is  inconsistent  with  the  meta- 
phor ;  for  in  nature  work  is  never  a  substitute  for 
food,  but  physiologically  exhausts  it.  It  is  in- 
consistent with  other  teachings  of  Scripture, 
which  never  represent  work^  but  always  divine 
sustaining  grace,  as  the  Christian  food.  It  is  prac- 
tically misleading,  for  it  leads  the  disciple  to  sup- 
pose that  he  can  grow  by  simply  doing  the  will  of 
his  Father,  whereas  he  is  to  acquire  the  power  to 
do  that  will  by  constantly  receiving  grace  from 
the  Father.  Christ's  language  here  is  inter- 
preted by  sucli  passages  as  Matt.  4:4,  "Man 
shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word 
that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God;" 
Matt.  25  :  4,  "The  wise  took  oil  in  their  vessels 
with  their  lamps."  Compare  John,  ch.  6.  That 
Jesus  lived  by  this  divine  food  is  evident  from 
his  habit  of  prayer,  and  from  such  declarations 
as  John  5  :  19,  20,  30 ;  14  :  10,  11.  This  meat 
then  is  the  indwelling  Spirit  of  God,  conditioned 
upon  entire  consecration  to  God.  It  was  this 
meat  which  fed  Peter  in  prison  (Acts  12 :  e),  Paul 
and  Silas  at  Philippi  (Acts  le :  25),  and  Paul  iu  the 
shipwreck  (Acts  2- :  23,  etc) ;  this  too  which  sus- 
tained Christ  in  the  hour  of  Gethsemane  and 
throughout  his  Passion.  A  faint  type  of  it  is 
afforded  in  earthly  experiences  by  the  strength 
which  seems  often  to  be  imparted  to  even  a 
feeble  mother  in  the  hour  of  her  child's  sickness, 
and  which  carries  her  through  vigils  which,  but 
for  her  love,  it  would  be  impossible  for  her  to 
sustain.  Her  Avork  is  not  her  food :  her  love 
and  faith  are  her  food,  and  sustain  her  for  her 
work.  No  Christian  can  live  by  or  on  his  work ; 
nor  did  Christ.— Hath  any  one  brought  him 


aught  to  eat.  They  thought,  perhaps,  that  the 
woman  had  done  so.  "  It  is  very  characteristic 
of  the  first  part  of  this  Gospel  to  bring  forward 
instances  of  unreceptivity  to  spiritual  meaning. 
Compare  ver.  11 ;  ch.  2  :  20;  3  :  4;  6  :  42,  52."— 
{Alford. ) 

34.  For  me  meat  is  in  order  that  I  may 
do  the  Avill  of  him  that  sent  me.  The  mean- 
ing is  not,  as  our  English  version  seems  to  imply, 
that  meat  and  doing  God's  work  are  synonjnious. 
The  above  is  a  literal  translation  of  the  original ; 
and  the  meaning  is.  The  object  of  meat  is  that  I 
may  do  the  wDl  of  him  that  sent  me  and  may 
finish  his  work.  The  expression  is  parallel  to 
and  interpreted  by  Paul's  in  Acts  20  :  24,  "  Neither 
count  I  my  life  dear  unto  myself  so  that  I  might 
finish  my  course  ;  "  or  in  Phil.  1  :  21,  "For  to  me 
to  live  is  Christ."  The  object  of  Christ  was  the 
accomplishment  of  his  mission ;  for  this  purpose 
alone  had  meat  any  value  to  him  ;  for  this  pur- 
pose he  both  needed  and  possessed  meat  that  his 
disciples,  in  their  then  state  of  spiritual  culture, 
did  not  and  could  not  understand ;  and  in  the 
work  which  he  had  accomplished,  by  his  conver- 
sation with  the  woman,  he  had  received  greater 
satisfaction  than  in  any  food  which  they  could 
have  brought  to  him  from  the  city. 

35.  There  is  some  uncertainty  regarding  the 
proper  interpretation  of  this  verse.  Alford,  Tho- 
luck,  De  Wette,  and  some  others,  suppose  that 
Christ  is  quoting  a  proverbial  expression  ;  per- 
haps referring  to  the  time  which  elapsed  between 
seed-time  and  harvest,  perhaps  to  some  time  in- 
tervening between  a  local  feast  or  a  religious 
anniversary  and  the  harvest.  Meyer,  Andrews, 
Ellicott,  and  others  take  it  as  a  chronological  in- 
dication that  it  was  then  four  months  to  harvest, 
i.  e.,  the  month  of  December,  a  fact  to  which 
perhaps  some  reference  had  been  made  by  the 
disciples  in  the  course  of  their  walk.  Chrysos- 
toni,  Meyer,  and  others,  suppose  moreover  that 
the  approaching  Samaritans  were  seen  through 
the  coni-fields,  and  to  them  Christ  pointed  when 
he  said,  "Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  on  the 
fields."  "The  approaching  townspeople  now 
showed  how  greatly  the  doing  of  the  Father's 
will  was  in  process  of  accomplishment.  They 
were  coming  through  the  corn-field,  now  tinged 
with  green  ;  thus  they  make  the  fields,  which  for 
four  months  would  not  yield  the  harvest,  in  a 
higher  sense  already  white  harvest  fields.  Jesus 
directs  the  attention  of  his  disciples  to  this ;  and 


60 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  IV. 


36  And  he  that  reapeth  receiveth  wages,  and  gather- 
eth  fruit s  unto  life  eternal:  that  both'  he  that  soweth 
and  he  that  reapeth  may  rejoice  together. 

37  And  lierein  is  that  saying  true,  One"  soweth,  and 
another  reapeth. 

38  I  sent  you  to  reap  that  whereon  ye  bestowed  no 
labour:  other*  men  laboured,  and  ye  are  entered  into 
their  labours. 


39  And  many  of  the  Samaritans  of  that  city  believed 
on  him  for  tlie  saying  "  of  the  woman,  which  testified, 
He  told  me  all  that  ever  I  did. 

40  So  when  the  Samaritans  were  come  unto  him,  they 
besought  him  that  he  would  tarry  with  them  :  and  he 
abode  there  two  days. 

41  And  many  more  believed  because  of  his  own 
word  ; 


Rom.  6  :  22 t  1  Cor.  3:5-9. 


SAMARITAN    REMAINS    IN    GERIZIM. 


with  the  beautiful  pictui-e  thus  presented  in  na- 
ture he  connects  further  appropriate  instruc- 
tions."— {2Iei/er.)  The  plirase  "Say  not  ye" 
seems  to  me  clearly  to  indicate  that  Christ  refers 
to  some  proverbial  saying  (comp.  Matt,  le :  2) ;  the 
direction,  "Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  on  the 
fields,"  indicates  some  present  appearance  wh'ch 
gave  point  to  his  declaration  that  they  v.v:^ 
white  already,  a  declaration  which  would  hav" 
no  significance  if  the  fields  were  literally  ready 
for  the  hai*vest.  I  therefore,  withTholuck,  com- 
bine the  two  views  and  suppose  that  Christ  did 
refer  to  a  proverbial  expression,  probably  indi- 
cating the  time  between  seed-time  and  harvest, 
and  appropriate  then  because  it  was  then  the 
seed-time.  The  spiritual  meaning  is  very  clear. 
Procrastination  is  a  fault  of  the  church  as  well  as 
of  the  Avorld,  of  the  disciple  as  well  as  of  the  im- 
penitent sinner.  The  Christian  is  constantly  wait- 
ing for  an  opportunity ;  he  should  wait  on,  he 
never  need  wait  for  the  Lord.  Since  Christ  has 
ascended,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  has  been  given, 
the  field  is  always  white  for  the  harvest ;  Ave 
never  need  wait  for  God  to  ripen  the  grain.  The 
message,  "All  things  are  now  ready,"  was  given 
by  the  Lord  to  his  servants ;  it  is  only  as  the  ser- 
vant understands  and  believes  this  that  he  can 
make  the  guests  believe  it  (Luke  14 :  n). 


36-38.  And  he  that  reapeth  receiveth 
Avages  and  gathereth  fruit  unto  life  eter- 
nal. The  Lord's  husbandman  has  both  wages 
and  heaven.  The  earthly  wages  of  the  success- 
ful evangelist  is  not  in  his  salary,  nor  in  his  fame 
or  position,  but  in  the  affections  which  reward 
him,  and  the  personal  present  consciousness  of 
v.'ork  achieved,  the  highest  and  grandest  which 
it  is  ever  permitted  man  to  do.  To  this  is  added 
the  joy  inherent  in  bringing  souls  to  Christ,  and 
through  Christ  into  eternal  life,  a  joy  which  will 
not  be  consummated  until  the  reaper  enters  into 
glory,  with  an  "  abundant  entrance,"  and  brings 
his  sheaves  to  his  Lord. — That  both  *  -  *  may 
rejoice  together.  The  sowing  is  in  tears  ;  the 
reaping  is  with  rejoicing  (rs.  126  : 5) ;  but  in  the 
future  life  both  will  rejoice  in  the  ingathering ; 
hearts  that  knew  not  whence  they  received  the 
seed  will  learn  to  thank  the  unknown  or  the  un- 
recognized benefactor  ;  and  the  Lord  of  the  har- 
vest will  say  to  both,  "Well  done,  good  and 
faithful  servants." — Herein  is  that  saying 
true.  Undoubtedly  a  reference  to  a  proverbial 
saying,  to  which  Christ  gives  a  new  and  spiritual 
significance.  Primarily,  Christ  is  the  sower,  who 
sowed  in  tears  and  reaped  but  little ;  the  apos- 
tles are  the  reapers,  who  gathered  in  a  single  day 
more  souls  into  the  church  of  Christ  than  Jesus 


Ch.  IV.] 


JOHN. 


61 


42  And  said  unto  the  woman,  Now  we  believe,  not 
because  of  thy  saying:  for"  we  have  heard  liitn  our- 
selves, and  know  that  this  is  indeed  the  Christ,  the 
Saviour  of  the  world. 

43  Now  after  two  days  he  departed  thence,  and  went 
into  Galilee. 

44  For  Jesus  himself  testified,  thats'  a  prophet  hath 
no  lionour  in  his  own  country. 

45  Then  when  he  was  come  into  Galilee,  the  Gali- 
Iseans  received  him,  having  seen  ^  all  the  things  that  he 


did  at  Jerusalem  at  the  feast :  for  »  they  also  went  unto 
tlie  least. 

46  So  Jesus  came  again  into  Cana  of  Galilee,  where 
lie  made''  the  water  wine.  And  there  was  a  certain 
nobleman,  whose  son  was  sicl<  at  Capernaum. 

47  When  he  heard  that  Jesus  was  come  out  of  Judaea 
into  Galilee,  he  went  unto  him,  and  besought  him  that 
lie  would  come  down,  and  heal  his  son :  for  he  was 
at  the  point  of  death. 


xch.  n  :  8;  1  Johu  4  :  14....y  MaU.  13  :  57  ;  Mark  6  :  4;  Luke  4  :  24.  ...zch.  i  :  23.  ...uDeui.  16  :  l(;....bch.  2  :  1,  11. 


himself  in  Lis  whole  lifetime.  But  secondarily 
the  prophets  were  sowers  and  the  apostles  reap- 
ers, a  fact  illustrated  by  their  constantly  quoting 
of  the  prophets  in  attestation  of  the  divine  char- 
acter and  mission  of  Christ.  And  finally,  the 
twofold  work  of  sowing  and  reaping  goes  on 
throughout  all  time,  the  same  man  sometimes 
being  both  sower  and  reaper,  sometimes  sowing 
all  his  life  in  tears  that  another  may  reap  in  joy. 
The  truth  of  Christ's  saying  in  verses  37,  38,  is 
illustrated,  but  as  a  prophecy  it  is  not  fulfilled, 
by  the  successful  mission  of  the  apostles  to  Sa- 
maria, where  Christ  sowed  at  this  time  and  tljey 
reaped  subsequently  (Acts8:5-s,  14-17). 

39-42.  This  mission  of  Christ  to  the  Samar- 
itans is  not  inconsistent  M'ith  his  directions  to  his 
apostles,  when  they  were  commissioned,  not  to 
go  into  any  Samaritan  city,  for  the  reason  of  that 
prohibition  was  not  his  unwillingness  to  open  the 
Gospel  to  the  heathen,  but  the  fact  that  his 
apostles  did  not  yet  comprehend  its  catholicity, 
and  could  not  therefore  successfully  preach  it  to 
the  heathen.  That  the  opening  of  the  doors  to 
others  than  Jews  was  neither  an  afterthought 
with  Christ,  nor  a  supplemental  act  originating 
with  Paul,  is  evident  from  the  incident  recorded 
here.  Notice  that  the  faith  of  the  Samaritans 
rested  on  Christ's  words — he  apparently  wrought 
no  miracles ;  and  that  they  recognized  in  him 
the  Saviour  not  of  the  nation  but  of  the  tuorld. 
"  Uuiversalism  was  more  akin  to  the  Messianic 
faith  of  the  Samaritans  than  to  that  of  the  Jews, 
Avitli  their  definite  and  energetic  feeling  of 
nationality." — {Meyer.)  Notice  too,  the  forms 
of  Christian  experience  illustrated  in  this  pas- 
sage ;  one  (ver.  39)  rests  on  the  testimony  of 
others,  the  other  (ver.  42)  rests  on  a  personal 
communion  with  and  experience  of  Christ  as  a 
Messiah  and  Saviour. 

Ch.   4  :  43-54.      THE  CURE    OF    THE    CENTURION'S 

SON. — Two  KINDS  OF  FAITH  ;  A  POOR  FAITH  REQUIRES 
SIIRACLES  ;  A  TRUE  FAITH  ACCEPTS  CHRIST's  WORD 
SIMPLY. 

43-45.  After  tAVO  days.  Spent  in  preach- 
ing the  gospel  to  the  Samaritans.  The  nature 
of  this  ministry  is  left  to  conjecture.  We  must 
presume,  however,  that  it  was  of  the  same  type 
as  Christ's  preaching  in  Galilee  at  this  time, 
where  his  theme  was,  "Repent,  for  the  kingdom 


of  heaven  is  at  hand  "  (Matt.  4;  n) ;  the  nature  of 
that  kingdom,  and  the  character  of  the  Messianic 
king,  he  probably  made  no  attempt  to  explain. 
It  was  i^reparative  ;  he  sowed  only,  leaving  the 
reaping  to  be  done  by  others  at  a  later  day. — 
For  Jesus  himself  testified  that  a  prophet 
hath  no  honor  in  his  own  country.  The 
rationalistic  critics  cite  this  as  one  of  the 
evidences  that  the  Fourth  Gospel  is  not  the 
product  of  one  of  the  Twelve.  Thus,  "In  the 
Synoptics  Jesus  is  reported  as  quoting  against 
the  people  of  his  own  city,  Nazareth,  who 
rejected  him,  the  proverb,  'A  prophet  has  no 

honor   in    his  own    country  '  (Matt.  13  :  57  ;   M.-irk  6:4; 

Luke  4  :  24).  The  appropriateness  of  the  remark 
here  is  obvious.  The  author  of  the  Fourth 
Gospel,  however,  shows  clearly  that  he  was 
neither  an  eye-witness  nor  acquainted  with  the 
subject  or  country  when  he  introduces  this, 
proverb  in  a  different  place.  *****  He 
(Christ)  is  made  to  go  into  Galilee,  which  is  his 
own  country,  because  a  prophet  has  no  honor  in 
his  countiy,  and  the  Galileans  are  represented  as 
receiving  him,  which  is  a  contradiction  of  the 
proverb." — {Supernatural  Eeligion,  Vol.  II,  447.) 
I  have  cited  this  objection  at  length  because  it  is 
a  not  unfair  illustration  of  the  straits  to  which 
rationalism  is  reduced  in  its  efforts  to  discredit 
this  Gospel.  Constructive  dogmatism  is  bad 
enough  ;  destructive  dogmatism  is  much  worse. 
The  diflficulties  created  by  evangelical  critics  in 
the  interpretation  of  the  passage  are  equally 
curious  as  an  illustration  of  forced  and  fanciful 
exaggerations.  The  curious  will  find  them 
stated  in  Alford'  and  Meyer.  The  English 
reader,  who  simply  takes  the  context,  will 
assuredly  find  no  difficulty  in  the  passage. 
Christ  was  received  in  Samaria,  notwithstand- 
ing he  was  a  Jew,  with  whom  usually  the 
Samaritans  had  no  dealings  (ver.  9),  and  this 
though  he  wrought  no  miracles,  and  merely 
because  of  his  words,  i.  e.,  the  purity  and 
beauty  and  self-evident  truth  of  his  teaching 
(ver.  41).  In  Galilee  he  was  received  only 
because  he  was  a  Jew,  and  had  wrought  mira- 
cles at  Jerusalem  (chap.  3 :  2),  and  brouglit  with 
him  a  metropolitan  reputation.  He  had  no 
honor  in  his  own  country  as  a  prophet,  until 
he  brought  it  back  with  him  from  the  holy  city  ; 
it  was  honor,  not  indigenous  but  imported. 


62 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  IV. 


48  Then  said  Jesus  unto  him,  Except  ye  see  signs'^ 
and  wonders,  ye  will  not  believe. 

49  The  nobleman  saith  unto  him,  Sir,  come  down  ere 
my  child  die. 

50  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  Go  '^  thy  way  ;  thy  son  liveth. 
And  the  man  believed  the  word  that  Jesus  had  spoken 
unto  him,  and  he  went  his  way. 

51  And  as  he  was  now  going  down,  his  servants  met 
him,  and  told  /iz»!,  saying,  Thy  son  liveth. 


52  Then  inquired  he  of  them  the  hour  when  he  began 
to  amend.  And  they  said  unto  him,  Yesterday  at  the 
seventh  hour  the  fever  left  him. 

53  So  the  faiher  knew  that  zV  was  at  the  same  '^  hour, 
in  the  which  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thy  son  liveth  :  and 
himself  believed.'  and  his  whole  house. 

54  This  IS  again  the  second  miracle  /Aat  Jesus  did, 
when  he  was  come  out  of  Judaea  into  Galilee. 


c  1  Cor.  1  :  22. . .  .d  Matt.  8:13;  Mark  7  :  29,  30  ;  Lukb  17  :  14. . .  .e  Ps.  107  :  20. . .  .f  Acts  16  :  34  ;  18  :  8. 


46,  47.  Into  Cana.  For  site  see  chap.  3  : 1, 
note.  The  fact  that  he  went  at  once  to  Cana, 
gives  color  to  the  supposition  that  the  marriage 
there  may  have  been  that  of  John,  according  to 
an  ancient  tradition ;  at  all  events  it  probably 
was  one  of  some  intimate  friend  of  Christ. — A 
certain  nobleman.  Probably  an  oflEicer  of 
Herod  Antipas  who  hud  a  palace  at  Tiberias. 
It  has  been  conjectured  that  he  may  have  been 
the  Chuza,  whose  wife  became  attached  to 
Jesus  with  other  women  of  Galilee  (Luke  8: 3). 
That  he  was  a  Jew  is  probable,  since  the  mani- 
festation of  faith  in  a  heathen  is  generally 
especially  noted  by  the  historian  or  by  Christ. — 
Was  sick  at  Capernaum.  About  twenty 
miles  distant. — Was  at  the  point  of  death. 
Literally  Was  about  to  die. 

48,  49.  Except  ye  .see  sis:ns  and  won- 
ders. Rather  a  soliloquy  apphed  to  the  entire 
people,  than  a  personal  rebuke  of  the  nobleman. 
For  there  is  certainly  no  evidence  that  his  faith 
was  notably  small ;  rather  the  reverse.  He  had 
traveled  twenty  miles  to  apply  to  Christ  for 
assistance  ;  his  request  that  Christ  should  come 
personally  was  certainly  not  unnatural,  for  he 
could  not  be  expected  to  assume  that  Christ 
would  or  could  heal  by  a  word  ;  when  the  word 
was  spoken  he  went  away  undoubtingly ;  and 
he  evidently  made  no  great  haste  (see  note  on  verse 
51),  an  indication  of  his  restful  assurance  on 
Christ's  mere  word.  Analogous  to  Christ's 
utterance  here  is  that  of  Mark  9  :  19 ;  see  note 
there.  It  is  certainly  a  rebuke  to  the  skepti- 
cism which  to-day  demands  signs  and  wonders 
as  a  basis  for  faith,  and  to  the  church  which 
continually  endeavors  to  satisfy  this  desire  by 
demonstrating  the  miracles  as  though  they  were 
the  evidences  of  Christianity.  Christ  himself 
never,  in  public  discourse  Avith  skeptics,  based 
his  claims  on  his  miracles ;  never  performed  a 
miracle  for  the  purpose  of  proving  his  claims  to 
an  unbeliever  (Matt.  11  : 4,  .5  is  not  an  exception  ; 
see  note  there) ;  and  rebuked  the  demand  made 
on  him  for  miracles  as  a  basis  of  faith  in  his 
mission.— Come  down.  One  of  those  geo- 
graphical and  incidental  evidences  of  accuracy 
in  the  historian  which  demonstrate  his  familiar- 
ity with  the  country.  Capernaum  was  on  the 
shore  of  the  sea  of  Galilee ;  Cana  was  in  the 
hill  country. 


50-.')4.  He  went  his  ^vay.  The  course  of 
the  nobleman  was  not  that  of  one  deficient  in 
faith.  On  the  contrary,  he  did  not  wait  to 
see  signs  or  wonders ;  he  believed  the  simple 
word.  That  he  did  not  hasten  is  evident  from 
the  next  verse.  Christ  spoke  the  word  of  heal- 
ing at  the  seventh  hour,  i.  e.,  one  in  the  after- 
noon. The  father  could  have  reached  home 
that  same  night ;  but  it  was  not  until  the  next 
day  that  his  servants,  coming  to  relieve  his  fears, 
met  him  on  the  road.  Faith  neither  worries  nor 
hurries. — Thy  son  is  living.  He  was  so  sick 
before  the  father  left  home,  that  the  mere 
announcement  that  he  was  living  demonstrated 
that  he  was  recovering.  The  case  was  one  in 
which  life  could  not  last  long  if  a  change  for 
the  better  did  not  take  place. — Himself  be- 
lieved. Believed  what?  He  had  believed 
before,  when  he  came  to  Jesus,  or  he  would 
not  have  come  ;  and  again  when  he  went  away, 
or  he  would  not  have  been  satisfied  at  the  mere 
word  of  Jesus.  But  he  before  simply  believed 
about  Jesus,  e.  g.,  that  he  was  a  prophet,  possessing 
certain  healing  powers,  the  extent  of  which  he 
had  not  measured.  Now  he  believed  on  Jesus  ; 
without  as  yet  comprehending  the  Saviour's 
mission  or  character,  he  yet  had  faith  in  him ; 
that  kind  of  faith  which  was  ready  to  accept 
him  as  all  that  he  claimed,  whatever  that  might 
be.  To  believe,  used  absolutely,  as  here,  always 
indicates  not  believing  a  doctrine  about  Christ, 
but  personal  belief  in  and  allegiance  to  him. 

This  miracle  is  certainly  not  the  same  with 
the  healing  of  the  centurion's  servant,  re- 
corded in  Matt.  8  :  5-13,  with  which  it  has 
been  sometimes  confounded,  but  with  which  it 
really  has  little  in  common.  One  is  wrought  at 
Capernaum,  the  other  at  Cana ;  one  at  the  peti- 
tion of  a  nobleman,  an  oflicer  of  the  court,  the 
other  at  the  request  of  a  centurion  ;  one  proba- 
bly for  a  Jew,  the  other  certainly  for  a  Roman ; 
one  in  behalf  of  a  son,  the  other  in  behalf  of  a 
servant ;  one  for  a  petitioner  who  entreats 
Christ  to  come  to  his  house,  the  other  for  one 
who  deprecates  his  doing  so ;  one  affording  an 
illustration  of  the  largest  faith  in  a  heathen,  the 
other  of  the  development  of  faith  from  a  small 
beginning  in  an  Israelite.  The  resemblances  are 
superficial ;  the  differences  are  radical.  Accept- 
ing the  narrative  as  true,  it  is  one  of  the  many 


Cn.  v.] 


JOHN. 


03 


CHAPTER   V. 

AFTER  this  there  was  a  feast e  of  the  Jews;  and 
Jesus  went  up  to  Jerusalem. 
2  Now  there  is  at  Jerusalem  by  the  sheep  tnarket,  a 


pool,  which  is  called  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  Bethesda, 
having  five  porches. 

3  In  these  lay  a  great  multitude  of  impotent  folk, 
of  blind,  halt,  w'ithered,  waiting  for  the  moving  of  the 
water.  . 


g  ch.  2  :  13 ;  Lev.  23  :  2,  etc.  j  Deut.  16  :  16. 


which  utterly  refute  the  rationalistic  explanation 
of  miracles  offered  by  such  writers  as  Schenkel. 
This  cure  could  not  have  been  due  to  any  natural 
means,  as  the  inspiration  of  hope,  or  the  infusion 
of  nervous  power  by  personal  contact,  or  the 
like,  for  the  sick  man  did  not  see  Jesus  nor  even 
know  when  the  father  saw  him. 


Ch.  5  : 1-47.  HE.\L1NG  OF  lMrOTi:>"T  MAN  AND  DIS- 
COURSE THKUEON.— A  PARABLE  OF  REDEMPTION;  THE 
NATURE  AND  THE  CONDITION  OF  SPIRITUAL  CURE  ILLUS- 
TRATED. —  The  Christian    law  op   the    Sabbath 

ILLUSTRATED.— The  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD  : 


HE  IS  WITH  THE  FATHER  ;  COMES  FROM  THE  FaTUER  ; 
IS  TO  BE  HONORED  AND  TRUSTED  AS  THE  FaTHSK  ;  HE 
RAISES  THE  DEAD  AND  JUDGES  THE  LIVING.  —  THE 

EVIDENCES  OP  Christianity  ;  the  testimony  op 
John  ;  of  Christ's  life  and  works  ;  of  the  Scrip- 
ture.—The  CAUSE  OP  UNBELIEF. 

1-4.  After  this  Avas  a  feast  of  the  Jews. 

There  were  three  great  feasts  of  the  Jewish 
nation,  the  Passover  in  the  spring,  usually 
March ;  the  Pentecost,  fifty  days  after,  coming 
therefore  usually  early  in  June  ;  and  the  Taber- 
nacles, a  feast  in  the  Fall,  usually  October,  anal- 


CHUKCH   OVER    THE   POOL   OF    BETHESDA. 


ogous  to  our  Thanksgiving.  To  these  must  be 
added  the  feast  of  Purim,  which  was  kept  in 
celebration  of  the  deliverance  of  Israel,  in  the 
time  of  Esther,  from  massacre  (Esther  9 :  n-ia),  and 
the  feast  of  Dedication,  instituted  subsequent  to 
the  close  of  the  O.  T.  canon,  to  commemorate  the 
purging  of  the  temple  and  the  rebuilding  of  the 
altar,  after  Judas  Maccabeus  had  driven  out  the 
Syrians,  b.  c.  164.  There  is  nothing  in  the  lan- 
guage of  John  to  indicate  which  of  these  various 
feasts  is  the  one  here  intended.  Some  manu- 
scripts have  indeed  the  words,  the  feast  of  the 
Jews,  and  if  this  reading  were  correct  it  would 
unquestionably  designate  the  Passover ;  but  the 
weight  of  authority  is  against  it.     The  question 


is  one  which  has  provoked  a  vast  deal  of  discus- 
sion, but  no  general  agreement.  It  is  important 
onl}-  in  determining  the  chronology  of  the  life  of 
Christ,  and  is  itself  so  far  undetermined  that  it 
cannot  be  of  great  value  even  for  that  purpose. 
I  think  it  clear  (a)  that  it  could  not  be  the  feast 
of  Dedication,  which  took  place  in  the  winter, 
when  it  is  not  probable  that  the  sick  would  be 
lying  in  the  porches  of  Bethesda;  (h)  nor  the 
feast  of  Purim,  though  this  has  been  maintained 
by  some  eminent  modern  scholars,  as  Wieseler, 
Godet,  Olshausen,  Ellicott,  and  Meyer;  for 
there  is  no  evidence  that  the  Jews  generally  went 
up  to  Jerusalem  to  celebrate  the  feast  of  Purim, 
and  no  reason  to  believe  that  our  Lord  would 


64 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  V. 


4  For  an  angel  went  down  at  a  certain  season  into 
the  pool,  and  troubled  the  water :  whosoever  then 
tirst''  after  the  troubling  of  the  water  stepped  in,  was 
made  whole  '  ot  whatsoever  disease  he  had. 

5  And  a  certain  man  was  there,  wliich  had  an  infirm- 
ity J  thirty  and  eight  years. 


6  When  Jesus  saw  him  lie,  and  "t  knew  that  he  had 
been  now  a  long  time  in  that  case^  he  saith  unto  him^ 
Wilt  thou  be  made  whole  ? 

7  The  impotent  man  answered  him,  Sir,  1  have  '  no- 
man,  when  the  water  is  troubled,  to  put  me  into  the 
pool :  but  while  I  am  coming,  another  steppeth  down 
before  rue. 


h  Prov.  8=  17;  Eccles.  9  :  10;  Matt.  11  :  12. . .  .i  Ezek.  47  :  8,  9  ;  Zecli.  13:  1....J  Luke  8  :  43  ;  13:  16.. 
Ps.  72:  l:Ji  142:4;  Rora.  6  :  6 ;  2  Cor.  1  :  9, 10. 


kPs.  142:  3....1Deut.  32  :  36 


have  gone  there  in  honor  of  a  festival  which  was 
purely  national,  not  directed  by  the  O.  T., 
observed  not  in  connection  with  the  temple 
service,  but  privately  at  home,  and  often,  if  not 
generally,  with  rioting  and  excess,  rather  than 
with  religious  services.  I  agree  therefore  with 
Alford  and  Tholuck  that  we  cannot  gather  with 
any  probability  what  feast  it  was. — And  Jesus 
Avent  up  to  Jerusalem.  Presumptively  to 
attend  the  feast. — By  the  sheep-market. 
Rather  sheep-gate.  See  Neh.  3:1,  82 ;  13  :  39. 
The  site  is  unknown.  The  traditional  site, 
identical  with  the  gate  noAv  known  as  St. 
Stephen's,  is  pretty  effectually  disproved  by 
Robinson,  who  shows  that  no  wall  was  existing 
there  at  the  time  of  Christ. — A  poo].  Properly 
a  sivimming-ijlace.  Pools  for  purposes  of  bathing 
were  in  use  in  the  great  cities  of  the  old  world  ; 
and  recent  excavations  have  brought  to  light  the 
fact  that  ancient  Jerusalem  was  in  a  remarkable 
degree  supplied  with  water.  See  below. — 
Called  Bethesda.  The  word  means  Souse 
of  mercy.  The  location  is  entirely  uncertain. 
Tradition  places  it  near  the  modern  St.  Stephen's 
gate ;  but  this  tradition  dates  back  only  to  the 
12th  century. — Having  five  porches.  Opening 
upon  the  bath  or  tank.  In  these  the  sick  could  lie 
and  be  partially  protected  from  the  weatlier. — In 
these  lay  a  great  multitude  of  impotent, 
blind,  halt,  withered.  Four  classes  intended 
to  embrace  all  forms  of  purely  bodily  disorder 
of  a  chronic  character,  but  not  including  those 
possessed  of  evil  spirits.  The  impotent  are  those 
simply  suffering  from  special  weakness  and  infirm- 
ity or  from  general  debility-;  the  Jialt  are  those 
deprived  from  any  reason  of  the  full  and  free 
use  of  their  limbs ;  the  withered  are  those 
affected  by  paralysis  or  kindred  disorders. — 
Waiting  for  the  moving  of  the  water  * 
-»  *  *  was  made  whole  of  whatever 
disease  he  had.  Whether  this  explanation,  i.  e., 
the  last  clause  of  ver.  3  and  the  whole  of  ver.  4, 
is  genuine  or  a  later  intei'polation,  is  a  question 
of  dispute  among  the  critics ;  the  weight  of 
authority  is,  on  the  whole,  in  favor  of  its  omis- 
sion ;  the  weight  of  reason  is  wholly  so.  (a) 
The  external  evidence  is,  on  the  whole,  against 
its  retention.  It  is  wanting  in  the  Vatican, 
Cambridge,  and  Sinaitic  manuscripts  ;  in  those 
manuscripts  in  which  it  occurs,  the  verbal  varia- 
tions   are    considerable.      Tischendorf,   Meyer, 


Alford,  and  Tregelles  all  declare  against  it. 
(b)  The  internal  evidence  is  conclusive.  If  it 
had  been  in  the  original,  the  early  copyists 
would  not  have  omitted  it;  for  in  the  first 
centuries  there  was  no  such  reluctance  to  accept 
the  supernatural,  and  no  such  discrimination 
between  wonders  that  are  and  wonders  that  ai-e 
not  miracles,  as  would  have  induced  its  omis- 
sion. On  the  other  hand;  if  no  explanation  of 
the  reason  why  the  sick  were  gathered  in  the 
porches  of  Bethcsda  were  given  in  the  original 
account,  it  would  have  been  very  natural  for 
copyists  to  have  supplied  the  omission  by  insert- 
ing one.  (c)  The  explanation  offered  by  the 
doubtful  passage  is  itself  incredible.  It  is  a  mar- 
vel, but  it  is  in  no  sense  a  miracle.  The  irregular 
and  fitful  appearance  of  help  by  such  an  angelic 
visitor,  would  have  witnessed  to  no  truth,  Avould 
have  had  no  tendency  to  confer  faith  in  (Jod  or 
his  grace.  "  That  God  would  thus  miraculously 
intei'pose  to  throw  down  from  time  to  time  a 
boon  among  a  company  of  cripples,  to  be  seized 
by  the  most  forward,  selfish,  and  eager,  leaving 
the  most  helpless  and  miserable  to  be  over- 
whelmed again  and  again  with  bitter  disap- 
pointment, is  a  supposition  not  admissible." — 
(Jacob  AbboiVs  Notes  on  the  N.  T.)  {d)  These 
considerations  have  led  the  latest  and  best 
scholars,  with  substantial  unanimity,  to  omit 
the  explanatory  words  of  ver.  4,  and  latter  clause 
of  ver.  3.  SoAlford,  Tholuck,  Ebrard,  Trench, 
Olshausen,  Meyer,  Tischendorf,  and  Tregelles. 
But  though  it  is  no  jiart  of  the  sacred  record,  it 
probably  correctly  states  what  was  the  popular 
belief  among  the  Jews,  or  at  least  among  such 
as  resorted  to  this  spring  for  cure.  The  real 
basis  of  this  belief  is  indicated  by  recent  re- 
searches. These  Lave  made  it  evident  that  the 
pools  in  and  about  Jerusalem  were  connected 
with  each  other  by  underground  aqueducts. 
Dr.  Robinson  gives  an  account  of  his  explora- , 
ticm  of  such  an  aqueduct  connecting  two  pools, 
the  Fountain  of  the  Virgin  and  the  Pool  of 
Siloam.  He  satisfied  himself  that  water  flowed 
from  the  one  to  the  other  reservoir,  and  he 
witnessed  the  "troubling  of  the  water"  in  the 
Ffiuntain  of  the  Virgin.  "  We  perceived  the 
water  rapidly  bubbling  up  from  under  the  lower 
step.  In  less  than  five  minutes  it  had  risen  in 
the  basin  nearly  or  quite  a  foot ;  and  we  could 
hear  it  gurgling  off  through  the  interior  passage. 


C.'H.  v.] 


joH:t^. 


65 


8  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  Rise,""  take  up  thy  bed,  and 
walk. 

9  And  immediately  the  man  was  made  whole,  and 


took  up  his  bed,  and  walked  :  and  on"  the  same  day 
was  the  sabbath, 
lo  The  Jews  therefore  said  unto  him  that  was  cured. 


m  Matt.  9:6;  Mark  2:11;  Luke  5  : 


,  .  .  .  n  ch.  9  :  14. 


In  ten  minutes  more  it  had  ceased  to  flow ;  and 
the  water  in  the  basin  was  again  reduced  to  its 
former  level."'  His  observation  lias  been  since 
confirmed  by  others.  It  is  now  dilHcult  to  see 
how  the  Fountain  of  the  Virgin  could  ever  have 
been  surrounded  by  porches  or  made  a  resting- 
place  for  the  sick  ;  and  it  is  quite  certain  that 
the  Fountain  of  tiie  Virgin  cannot  be  asserted 
with  any  positiveness  to  have  been  the  Pool  of 
Bethesda.  But  these  discoveries  indicate  the 
probably  true  explanation  of  the  troubling  of 
the  water  mentioned,  not  by  John  it  will  be 
remembered,  but  by  some  subsequent  copyist, 
in  the  text.  The  Pool  of  Bethesda,  probably, 
was  connected  by  an  underground  passage  with 
some  intermittent  spring,  possibly  possessing 
healing  virtues,  and  the  bubbling  of  the  water 
from  time  to  time  gave  rise  to  the  legend  of  an 
angelic  visitant,  whicli  certain  of  the  Jews  ac- 
cepted, but  which  the  Evangelist  does  not  con- 
firm, and  to  which  there  is  no  reference  in  other 
literature. 

5-9.  Which  had  an  infirmity.  The  orig- 
inal implies  rather  a  loss  of  power  than  a  positive 
disease  ;  probably  it  was  a  nervous  disease  of 
the  paralytic  type. — Thirty  and  eight  years. 
The  words  "in  that  case,"  are  added  by  the 
translator,  but  they  correctly  convey  the  mean- 
ing, which  is  not  that  he  had  been  at  the  Pool  of 
Bethesda,  but  that  he  had  been  diseased  that 
length  of  time. — Wilt  thou  be  made  whole  ? 
Why  this  question?  Not  necessarily  because 
there  was  any  reasonable  doubt  whether  the 
man  desired  healing ;  nor  because  Christ  re- 
quired, as  a  conditional  preliminary,  the  man's 
assent  to  healing  on  the  Sabbath  ;  nor  because 
he  would  imply  blame,  as  though  the  man's 
long  infirmity  were  the  result  of  his  own  weak- 
ness of  will ;  nor,  surely,  because  he  would 
indicate  that  he  was  an  impostor  and  desired  to 
use  his  apparent  but  exaggerated  infirmity  to 
appeal  to  the  compassion  of  others.  All  these 
hypotheses  have  been  suggested.  But  Christ 
almost,  if  not  quite,  always  requires  on  the  part 
of  the  healed  some  act  of  the  will  precedent  to 
and  concurrent  with  his  act  of  grace  ;  the  cured 
are  never  merely  receptive  and  quiescent.  I 
believe  there  is  a  deep  religious  meaning  in  this, 
for  every  miracle  is  a  parable  of  redemption,  and 
that  our  Lord  would  teach  us  that  it  is  only  as 
we  will  to  be  made  whole  that  any  wholeness  is 
possible  for  us,  even  through  omnipoteut  divine 
grace.  In  this  particular  case  it  is  certainly  true 
that  the  man  might  have  traded  on  his  infirmity 


and  not  really  desired  to  be  cured  ;  and  though 
Christ's  knowledge  of  character  would  have 
rendered  the  question  unnecessary  for  his  own 
information,  it  was  not  unnecessary  to  make  it 
clear  to  others  that  he  was  acting  in  sympathy 
with  the  man,  nor  was  it  unimportant  as  a  dis- 
closure to  the  man  himself  that  he  must  rouse 
himself  from  the  lethargy  of  despair,  and  lay 
hold,  by  hope,  on  the  salvation  brought  to  him. 
— I  have  no  man.  It  is  the  friendless  who 
appeals  peculiarly  to  the  Friend  of  the  sinful 
and  the  suffering. — Rise,  take  up  thy  bed 
and  walk.  The  original  {y.Quir^uTiJr)  implies  a 
small,  low  bedstead.  See  for  illustration  Mark 
2  :  4,  note.  Here,  however,  the  term  may  be 
used  in  a  more  general  way,  and  may  imply 
simply  a  mattress  which  served  as  a  couch  by 
day  and  a  bed  by  night.  Observe  the  command 
to  take  up  tlie  bed.  This  apparently  was  not 
necessary ;  I  can  conceive  but  two  reasons 
for  it;  one  to  emphasize  the  perfection  of  the 
cure,  the  other  to  provoke  the  controversy  with 
the  Pharisees  respecting  the  Sabbath,  and  thus 
make  it  the  occasion  for  the  discourse  which 
follows. — Immediately.  The  instantaneous- 
ness  of  the  cure  indicates  its  miraculous  char- 
acter ;  so  does  its  permanence.  He  was  cured 
instantly  ;  he  was  cured  so  thoroughly  that  he 
could  not  only  walk,  but  could  carry  his  bed ; 
and  he  remained  cured. 

I  have  already  said    that    the    miracles    are 
parables  of  redemption.     Of  no  one  of  the  mir- 
acles is  this  more  strikingly  true  than  of  the 
present  one.    The  diseased  man  has  been  a  long 
time  sick.     He  is  helpless,  friendless,  in  despair. 
He  waits  for  an  imagined  moving  of  the  water, 
I  an  expected  divine  cure  that  is  to  come  without 
I  act  or  interposition  on  his  part;   and   it  never 
j  comes.     Christ  calls  first  his  will  into  exercise  : 
j  Wilt  thou  be  made  whole  ?   then  bids  him  do : 
"Rise,  take  up  thy  bed ;  "  and  in  ihe  choice  and 
the  obedience,  by  faith  indeed,  but  by  the  faith 
'  which  chooses  and  obeys,  he  is  made  instantly 
and  permanently  well. 

10-13.  It  is  not  laAvful  for  thee  to  carry 
thy  bed.  The  general  Sabbath  command  was, 
Thou  Shalt  do  no  work.  Neheraiah,  enforcing 
this  command,  forbade  the  carriage  of  commer- 
cial burdens  (sa.  n-.w).  From  this  the  Phar- 
isees, with  their  accustomed  literalism,  had 
deduced  thy  doctrine  that  nothing  must  be  car- 
ried on  the  Sabbath.  To  forbid  tlus  man  from 
carrying  his  bed  was  like  forbidding  a  modern. 
man  to  move  a  chair  or  a  campstool.     Either  he 


m 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  V. 


It  is  the  sabbath  day:"  it  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to 
carry  t/iy  bed. 

11  He  answered  them.  He  that  made  me  whole,  the 
same  saiil  unto  me,  Take  up  thy  bed,  and  walU. 

12  Then  asUed  they  him,  What  man  is  that  which 
said  unto  thee,  Talfe  up  thy  bed,  and  walk  ? 

13  And  he  tliat  was  healed  wist  p  not  who  it  was  :  for 
Jesus  had  coaveyed  1  himself  away,  a  multitude  being 
in  i/iai  place. 

14  Afterward  Jesus  findeth  him  in  the  temple,  and 


said  unto  him,  Behold,  thou  art  made  whole:  sin'  no 
more,  lest  a  worse  tiling  come  unto  thee. 

15  The  man  departed,  and  told  the  Jews  tluit  it  waj 
Jesus,  which  had  made  h:m  whole. 

16  And  therefore  did  the  Jews  persecute  Jesus,  and 
sought  to  slay  him,  because  he  had  done  these  things 
on  the  sabbath  day. 

17  But  Jesus  answered  them,  My  *  Father  worketh 
hitherto,  and  I  work. 

iS  Tiierefore  the  Jews  sought  the  more  to  kill  <  him. 


0  Jer.  17  :  21,  etc. ;  Matt.  12  :  2,  etc. . 


.  q  Luke  4  :  30 . 


ch.  8  :  II .  . 


chaps.  9  •.  4  ,  14  :  10 t  ch.  7  :  19. 


must  have  left  his  bed  at  the  pool,  to  be  stolen, 
or  he  must  have  stayed  there  to  watch  it,  or  he 
must  have  been  allowed  to  take  it  home  with 
him.  For  the  Pharisaic  regulations  respecting 
the  Sabbath,  see  Matt.  13  :  2,  note.— He  that 
made  me  whole  said  unto  me.  The  man 
knew  nothing  about  Christ  or  his  authority. 
His  idea  appears  to  have  been  that  Christ 
proved  his  right  to  give  the  command,  Take  up 
thy  bed  and  walk,  by  his  miracle  of  healing. — 
What  man  is  it  that  said  unto  thee,  Take 
up  thy  bed.  Observe  the  spirit  of  the  Phar- 
isees. Their  question  is  not,  "Who  healed  thee  ? 
but,  "Who  said  unto  thee,  Take  up  thy  bed  and 
walk  ?  They  are  blind  to  the  miracle  ;  they  can 
see  only  the  Sabbath  violation,  as  they  regard  it. 
— A  multitude  being  in  that  place.  Christ 
had  stopped  a  moment,  spoken  the  word  of 
heaUng,  and  passed  on  into  the  crowd.  All  was 
over  in  an  instant,  and  because  of  the  crowd 
Christ  escaped  the  man's  identification.  This 
was  early  in  his  ministiy  ;  he  was  not  yet  widely 
kuowTi  and  thronged,  as  later  in  life.  ObseiTe 
the  indications  of  the  nature  of  belief,  an  obedi- 
ent trust,  not  a  correct  intellectual  apprehension. 
This  man  had  faith  enough  to  be  healed  because 
faith  to  obey  Christ's  directions  despite  Phari- 
saic criticism ;  yet  he  knew  nothing  of  Christ's 
person,  character,  or  work  ;  did  not  even  know 
who  he  was.  It  is  possible  to  have  faith  in  even 
an  unknown  Christ. 

14- IG.  In  the  temple.  Possibly  an  indica- 
tion that  the  divine  grace  of  healing  had  already 
acted  as  a  means  of  spiritual  quickening. — Sin 
no  more,  lest,  etc.  A  plain  indication  that  the 
man's  disease,  probably  some  form  of  paralysis, 
was  an  effect  of  sin.  See  note  on  ch.  U  :  1.  Here, 
as  almost  everywhere,  Christ  makes  the  physical 
healing  minister  to  a  spiritual  cure. — And  re- 
ported to  the  Judeans  that  it  was  Jesus 
which  had  made  him  w^hole.  They  asked 
who  bade  him  carry  his  bed  ;  he  replied  that  it 
was  Jesus  who  healed  him.  They  asked  to  con- 
demn, he  answered  so  as  to  honor  Christ. — And 
therefore  did  the  Judeans  come  in  pursuit 
of  Jesus.  Here,  as  very  generally  throughout 
his  gospel,  John  uses  the  word  Jews  ('lovdaiog) 
to  signify  not  generally  the  members  of  the  He- 
brew race,  but  distinctly  the  inhabitants  of  the 
province  of  Judea.    I  therefore  render  it  here 


and  elsewhere  by  the  more  distinctive  word  Ju- 
deans. His  language  indicates  not  a  legal  perse- 
cution, but  a  malicious  pursuit.  Norton  trans- 
lates as  I  have.  Came  in  pursuit  of  Jesus. 
This  is  the  literal  rendering  of  the  original  verb 
(divjy.cj),  which  however  generally,  though  not 
always,  indicates  a  pursuit  with  an  evil  intent. 
Here  the  meaning  is  not  that  the  general  cause 
of  the  persecution  which  Christ  suffered  in  Judea 
was  his  supposed  Sabbath  violation,  but  that  in 
this  particular  instance  they  pursued  him  to  call 
him  to  account  for  this  particular  act  of  Sabbath 
breaking.  It  is  always  the  nature  of  the  cere- 
monialist  to  care  more  for  the  ceremony  than  for 
man. — And  sought  to  slay  him.  These  words 
do  not  belong  here.  They  have  been  added  to 
explain  and  correspond  with  the  expression  in 
verse  18,  Sought  the  more  to  kill  him.  They  are 
omitted  by  Alford,  Meyer,  Norton,  and  all  the 
best  critical  authorities. 

17-47.  In  the  study  of  the  discourse  which 
follows,  beware  of  considering  it  simply  verse  by 
verse.  It  is  not  a  collection  of  incidental  apho- 
risms, but  a  connected  address,  the  theme  being 
the  character,  ra  ission,  authority,  and  credentials 
of  the  Sou  of  God.  The  Pharisees  call  Christ  to 
account  for  healing  on  the  Sabbath  ;  he  cites  in 
his  defence  the  example  of  his  heavenly  Father. 
They  seize  upon  his  language,  deduce  from  it  the 
conclusion  that  he  makes  himself  equal  with  God, 
and  charge  hira  with  blasphemy.  This  serves  as 
the  text  of  the  discourse  which  follows.  He  de- 
clares that  he  comes  not  to  draw  allegiance  from, 
but  to,  the  Father ;  that  he  acts  under  the 
Father's  will ;  that  to  him  the  Father  has  com- 
mitted the  whole  work  of  grace  on  the  earth ; 
that  he  is  even  now  raising  the  spiritually  dead 
to  life ;  that  he  is  to  raise  the  physically  dead  to 
a  new  life  ;  and  that  he  will  finally  complete  this 
work  entrusted  to  him,  by  declaring  and  exe- 
cuting the  divine  judgment.  The  evidence  of 
his  mission  and  authority  is  not  in  his  own 
words;  he  is  testified  to  by  John  the  Baptist; 
by  his  own  life  and  work  ;  and  by  the  Scriptures 
of  the  O.  T.  He  closes  by  pointing  out  the 
secret  cause  of  the  Jews'  rejection  of  him,. viz., 
their  personal  ambition.  Beware,  too,  of  imput- 
ing to  the  words  a  dogmatic  meaning  borrowed 
from  later  ecclesiastical  controversies,  which 
they  did  not  bear  in  the  minds  of  his  heare^-s  at 


Ch.  v.] 


JOHN. 


67 


because  he  not  only  had  broken  the  sabbath,  but  said 
also  that  God  was  his  Father,  making"  himself  equal 
with  God. 


19  Then  answered  Jesus  and  said  unto  them,  Verily, 
verily,  1  say  unto  you,"  Tlie  Son  can  do  nothing  of 
himself,  but  what  hs  seeth  the  Father  do :    lor  what 


ch.  10  :  SO,  33 ;  Zech.  13  :  7 ;  Phil.  2:6 v  verse  30. 


the  time.  There  is  little  or  nothing  here 
respecting  the  relations  of  the  Son  to  the 
Father,  except  as  the  language  throughout 
implies  that  the  Son  is  subordinate  to  and 
dependent  upon  the  Father;  but  the  relation 
of  the  Son  to  the  human  race  is  clearly  revealed, 
the  relation  of  life-giver  and  judge,  and  is  cer- 
tainly not  that  of  any  man,  however  endowed, 
to  his  fellow-men.  Nevertheless  this  address 
contains  the  christology  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  own 
teaching  concerning  his  own  character  and  work; 
and  it  clearly  implies,  on  the  one  hand,  tliat  he 
not  only  represents  the  Father,  as  an  ambassa- 
dor might  represent  a  king,  that  he  is  not  only 
clothed  with  divine  authority,  as  Moses  was 
clothed,  in  the  administration  of  the  theocracy, 
with  the  authority  of  God,  but  that  he  is  a 
partaker  of  the  divine  nature ;  nor  less  clearly, 
on  the  other  hand,  does  it  imply  that  his  author- 
ity is  derived  from  the  Father,  that  his  power  is 
conferred  on  him  by  the  Father,  that  he  executes 
in  all  things  the  will  of  the  Father,  that  he  is  to 
be  conceived  of  not  as  distinct  from,  but  as  one 
■with  the  Father,  and  that  his  object  is  in  all 
things  to  be  a  way  unto  the  Father.  Against 
every  form  of  tri-theism,  against  all  substitution 
of  the  Son  in  the  place  of  the  Father,  this  dis- 
course is  a  solemn  and  earnest  admonition,  no 
less  than  against  all  belittling  of  either  his  char- 
acter to  that  of  man  or  angel,  or  his  mission  to 
that  of  mere  messenger  or  teacher. 

17.  3Iy  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I 
Avork.  The  argument  is  very  Iwief ;  it  is  based 
on  the  premises  that  we  are  to  be  followers  of 
God  as  dear  children  (Ephes.  5 ;  1),  that  the  Father's 
work  is  a  pattern  for  our  own  working.  It 
gives  color  to  the  opinion  that  the  days  of  crea- 
tion are  long  eons  or  periods  ;  that  the  seventh 
day,  which  God  blessed  and  on  which  he  rested, 
Is  the  present  period  in  which  the  mere  physical 
work  of  creation  has  given  place  to  the  higher 
work  of  redemption ;  thus  the  Sabbath  of  God 
becomes  both  interpreted  and  an  interpreter  to 
us  of  what  our  Sabbath  should  be.  The  divine 
work  does  not  cease  ;  the  grass  grows,  the  buds 
swell,  the  flowers  bloom,  the  fruits  ripen,  the 
rains  fall,  the  winds  blow, — but  all  this  is  the 
work  of  love ;  over  all  this  work  God's  tender 
■mercies  brood  (Psaim  145 : 9).  The  lesson  of  nature 
interpreted  here  by  Christ  is  that  the  work  of 
love  is  never  a  violation  of  the  true  Sabbath  law. 
This  verse,  with  Matt.  13  :  8  and  Mark  2  :  27, 
give  the  three  canons  for  the  Christian  observ- 
ance of  the  Sabbath.  (1)  The  Son  of  man  is 
Lord  also  of  the  Sabbath.     It  is  then  a  Christian 


day,  belongs  to  the  Christian  dispensation,  is 
under  the  Lordship  of  Christ  and  in  his  king- 
dom, and  is  to  be  kept  in  that  spirit  of  joyous 
freedom  with  which  Christ  makes  free.  (2)  The 
Sabbath  is  made  for  man.  It  is  therefore  man's 
day  ;  belongs  to  all  men,  GentCe  and  Jew,  poor 
and  rich ;  a  day  to  be  used  for  man  ;  so  that 
whatever  work  is  necessary  to  the  real  abiding 
welfare  of  the  human  race,  is  not  foreign  to  this 
day.  (3)  My  Father  worketh  hitherto.  The 
Father's  work  is  the  example  and  the  law  for 
his  children ;  the  ■work  of  love,  the  work  for 
others,  the  work  that  has  tender  mercy  for  its 
inspiration  and  its  overseer,  is  Sabbath  work. 
It  is  to  be  our  rest-day  as  it  is  our  heavenly 
Father's  rest-day,  and  only  so ;  a  prophecy  of 
that  eternal  rest  which  will  be  one  of  glorious 
activity :  a  rest  from  t'are,  from  worldliness, 
from  the  common  temptations  of  life,  but  not 
a  day  of  mere  dull  cessation  of  labor. 

18.  Because  he  had  not  only  broken 
the  Sabbath.  Literally  relaxed  (/.I'oj)  the  Sab- 
bath. See  note  on  Matt.  5  :  19  for  meaning  of 
the  word.  The  Pharisees  then,  as  the  literalists 
now,  believe  that  the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath 
could  only  be  preserved  by  putting  the  soul 
under  bonds  to  a  literal  compliance  with  specific 
regulations.  Christ  broke  these  bonds  asunder, 
gave  the  soul  liberty,  and  preserved  the  Sabbath 
by  inspiring  the  souls  of  his  disciples  with  alle- 
giance to  himself,  love  for  humanity,  and  sym- 
pathy with  the  redeeming  work  of  the  Father. 
He  did  relax  what  they  supposed  to  be  essen- 
tial to  the  preservation  of  the  day,  but  what 
was  really  destroying  it.  To  keep  this  poor 
man  on  his  bed,  or  watching  it  to  prevent  it 
from  being  stolen,  would  have  destroyed  for 
him  the  rest  of  the  day,  in  order  that  he  might 
comply  with  the  letter  of  the  Pharisaic  regula- 
tions. So  he  who  rides  in  a  horse-car  rather 
than  remain  away  from  church,  or  travels  late 
Saturday  night  or  early  Sunday  morning  rather 
than  destroy  his  Sabbath  by  spending  it  with 
strangers,  seems  to  the  Sabbatarian  of  to-day  to 
be  relaxing  the  Sabbath,  while  he  may  be  in  truth 
preserving  it. — But  said  also  that  God  Avas 
his  oAvn  Father,  {nurina  Uiov.)  Norton 
renders  the  sense  accurately  though  freely,  Had 
spoken  of  God  ax  particidarhj  hix  Father.  The 
meaning  of  the  original  will  be  indicated  to  the 
English  reader  by  Rom.  8  :  32,  "Spared  not  his 
own  Son;"  1  Cor.  G  :  IS,  "  Sinneth  against /< is 
own  body  ;  "  1  Cor.  7:2,  "  Have  her  own  hus- 
band." It  is  clear  that  the  Jews  either  did 
understand    Christ    by    his    language  to  claim 


68 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  V. 


things  soever  he  doeth,  these    also  doeth    the   Son 
likewise. 
20  For"  the  Father  loveth  the  Son,  and  sheweth 


him  all  things  that  himself  doeth  :  and   he  will  shew 
him  greater  works  than  these,  that  ye  may  marvel. 
21  For  as  the  Father  raiseth  up  the  dead,  and  quick- 


w  chaps.  3  :  35  ;  17  :  26 ;  Matt.  3  :  17. 


peculiar  relations  with  God,  or  pretended  so 
to  do.  Tn  his  mere  reference  to  God  as  Fa- 
ther there  was  no  such  claim,  for  he  bids  us 
all  call  him  our  Father  (Matt.  6 :  e,  7).  True,  in  the 
language  "»Hy  Father,"  most  commentators  see 
a  ground  for  the  interpretation  put  upon  his 
language  by  the  Judeans  : — thus  Meyer :  "They 
rightly  interpreted  'my  Father'  as  signifying 
peculiar  and  personal  fatherhood;''  Bengel : 
"  The  Only-begotten  alone  can  say,  '  ray  Fa- 
ther';  "  similarly  Alford,  Tholuck,  and  others. 
There  is  perhaps  some  ground  for  this  view. 
Yet  I  can  hardly  think  that  Christ's  mere 
designation  of  God  as  "my  Father"  implies 
more  than  Paul's  "Abba  Father"  (Rom.  8:15), 
which  Luther  renders  "dear  Father,"  or  the 
frequent  designation  of  God  as  mij  God  by  the  pa- 
triarchs, and  especially  by  David.  See  for  exam- 
ple, Exod.  15  :  2  ;  1  Chron.  28  :  20 ;  2  Chron.  18  : 
13  ;  Ps.  22  :  1, 10  ;  38  :  21 ;  71  :  12  ;  2  Cor.  12  :  21 ; 
Phil.  4  :  19.  And  in  Psalm  89  :  26  ;  Jer.  3  :  4,  man 
is  directed  by  God  to  apply  this  very  phrase 
"  my  Father  "  in  his  address  to  God.  I  believe 
then  that  the  statement  that  Jesus  said  that 
God  was  ill  a  peculiar  i>ense  his  Father,  and  the 
deduction  that  he  thus  made  himself  equal  to 
God,  are  the  malicious  wresting  of  his  words  by 
the  Judeans,  for  the  very  purpose  of  finding  an 
occasion  of  offence.  They  manifested  the  same 
spirit  in  John  10  :  31,  etc.,  though  there  they 
have  better  ground  for  the  interpretation  which 
they  put  upon  his  words.  In  the  discourse 
which  follows,  Christ  does  not  hold  them  to 
their  original  charge  respecting  the  Sabbath. 
He  follows  them  into  the  new  ground  which 
they  have  entered  on,  and  expounds  his  true 
nature  and  mission. — Making  himself  equal 
with  God.  "On  the  same  level  with  God" 
(Meyer);  "On  an  equality  with  God"  {No7-- 
ion)\  "Of  the  same  nature  and  condition" 
(Eobinsox).  The  language  of  Jesus,  his  claim 
of  the  right  to  work  because  the  Father  works, 
and  his  language  3fij  Father,  the  Judeans  regard 
as  embodying  an  assumption  that  he  is  of  the 
divine  nature  and  possesses  the  divine  preroga- 
tives. That  they  so  interpreted  his  language 
does  not  prove  that  it  is  to  be  so  interpreted. 
The  Pharisees  are  not  authorized  interpreters  of 
the  words  of  Christ.  His  claim  we  must  inter- 
pret for  ourselves  from  the  discourse  which 
follows.  How  far  does  he  correct  and  how  far 
confirm  their  interpretation  ?  It  seems  to  me 
clear  that  at  the  very  outset  he  materially  modi- 
fies it,  in  his  declaration  of  his  obedience  to  and 


dependence  upon  and  work  under  the  Father 
(ver.  19),  while  he  confirms  the  substantial  idea 
that  he  possesses  the  same  nature  as  the  Father, 
is,  so  to  speak,  of  kin  to  Him,  by  his  declaration 
that  he  does  what  the  Father  does  (vtt.  19),  shares 
in  all  the  counsels  of  the  Father  (ver.  20),  gives 
life  to  the  dead  as  the  Father  (ver.  21),  judges  all 
men  for  the  Father  (ver.  2'.'),  is  to  be  honored  as. 
the  representative  of  the  Father  (ver.  23),  is  the 
door  through  which  all  must  enter  into  eternal 
life  in  the  Father  (ver  24),  and  is  the  final  Resur- 
rection and  Judge  for  the  Father  (ver.  23-29) ;  yet 
at  the  close  he  again  emphasizes  the  truth  that 
in  all  this  he  is  not  a  second  or  even  subordinate 
God,  but  the  One  through  whom  the  Father 
does  all  (ver.  30),  the  one  mediator  between  God 
and  man  (1  Tim.  2 : 5). 

19,  20.  Yerily,  verily.  A  formula  used 
by  Christ  in  cases  of  important  and  emphatic 
affirmation. — The  Son  can  do  uothiiisr  of 
himself,  i.  c,  of  his  own  will  or  authority. 
"Of  myself  {ucp'  iavrov),  i.  e.,  of  one's  own  will 
or  accord,  without  authority  or  command  from 
another." — {Bob.  24,  art.  i'.-to.)  This  declaration 
cannot  be  limited,  as  by  Calvin,  to  the  power  of 
Christ  in  his  human  nature,  without  adding  to 
the  verse  what  is  not  in  it,  nor  in  its  necessary 
connection  ;  nor  can  we  read  it,  as  Chrysostom 
does,  that  Christ  can  do  nothing  contrary  to  his 
Father's  will,  because  of  the  perfect  union  be- 
tMeen  them,  for  this  is  clearly  not  the  mean- 
ing of  the  original.  Christ  says  not,  I  can  do 
nothing  contrary  to  my  Father,  but,  I  can  do 
nothing  of  mi/sclf,  by  my  own  independent  and 
original  power.  The  meaning  of  the  original  is. 
transparent,  though  the  truth  is  transcendent. 
This  is  that  (he  power  of  Christ  is  not  an  origi- 
nal but  a  derived  power ;  that  it  comes  from 
the  Father  and  is  a  power  only  to  do  those 
things  which  carry  out  the  Father's  will.  As 
the  Christian  can  do  nothing  without  Christ 
(ch.  15 :  s),  yet  can  do  all  things  through  Christ 
strengthening  him  (phii.  4 :  is),  so  Christ  can  do 
nothing  without  the  Father,  but  does  all  things 
by  virtue  of  a  divine  power  imparted  to  him  by  the 
Father,  and  as  a  manifestation  of  the  Father. 
This  is  a  partial  answer  to  the  charge  that 
Christ  makes  himself  equal  to  the  Father.  He 
shows  that  so  far  from  doing  anything  calcu- 
lated to  draw  away  allegiance  from  the  Father, 
he  draws  allegiance  to  the  Father,  since  in  all 
that  he  does  he  acts  out  only  the  Father's  will. 
He  is  divine  because  of  the  divinity  with  which  he 
has,  so  to  speak,  been  clothed  by  the  Father's- 


■Ch.  v.] 


JOHN. 


69 


■eneth  i/iem;  even' so  the  Son  quickeneth  whom  he 
will. 

22  Kor  the  Father  judgeth  no  man,  but  hath  commit- 
ted y  all  judgment  unto  the  Son  ; 


23  That  all  vien  should  honour  the  Son,  even  as  they 
honour  tlie  Father.  He  that  honoureth  not  the  Son, 
honourcth  not  the  Father  which  hath  sent  him. 

24  N'erily,  verily,  1  say  unto  you,  He  ^  that  heareth 


X  ch.  11  :  25;  17  ;  2;  Luie  8  :  64. . . .  y  Matt.  11  :2:;  Acta  11  :  31  j  2  Cor.  5  :  10. 


ch.  6  :  40,  47. 


love.— But  what  he  seeth  the  Father  do. 

"A  familiar  description,  borrowed  from  the 
attention  whicli  cliildrcii  give  to  tlieir  father— of 
the  inner  and  immediate  intention  wliieli  the 
Son  perpetually  lias  of  the  Father's  will,  in  the 
perfect  consciousness  of  fellowship  of  life  with 
Him."  — (j¥f?/c?-.)  —  Whatsoever  things  he 
doeth,  these  also  doeth  the  Son  likewise. 
In  like  manner  {ou<'nv):\  that  is,  with  like  power 
and  authority.  This  surely  could  be  said  of  no 
man,  no  angel.  It  indicates  not  only  a  super- 
human but  also  a  super-angelic  character.  Thus 
this  verse  jmts  in  a  very  compact  form  tlio  para- 
dox of  Christ's  character — a  paradox  not  to  be 
explained  away  by  either  modifications  of  the  first 
clause  or  denials  of  the  second.  The  first  clause 
asserts  that  Christ's  power  comes  from  the 
Father,  and  thus,  in  a  sense,  is  not  equal  to 
that  of  the  F.ather,  which  is  uncreated  and 
underived.  And  with  this  declaration  agree 
many  other  passages  of  Scripture.  See  for 
example,  ch.  7  :  17,  IS  ;  8  :  42  ;  14  :  10 ;  PhU. 
2:9;  Heb.  1:9;  3:2.  The  second  clause 
asserts  that  this  power,  conferred  upon  the 
Son,  is  that  of  the  Father,  who  has  put  all 
things  into  the  hands  of  the  Son  that  he  may 
be  Lord  of  all.  Acts  10  :  36  ;  James  5:9;  Col. 
1  ;  1(5,  17 ;  3  :  11.  It  is  noticeable  that  John, 
who  of  all  Evangelists  makes  most  clear  the 
divine  nature  of  Christ,  as  well  as  his  divine  mis- 
sion, is  the  one  who  more  clearly  than  any  other 
of  the  evangelists  asserts  his  dependence  on  the 
Father. — For  the  Father  loveth  the  Son,  etc. 
Tliis  is  stated  as  the  reason  why  the  Son  is  able  to 
do  all  things  that  the  Father  doeth.  His  power 
is  derived  from  the  Father  through  the  Father's 
love  for  him.  Comp.  Heb.  1  :  9. — And  shoAveth 
him  all  things.  "He  who  loves  hides  nothing." 
— {Benyel.) — He  will  show  him  greater  Avorks 
than  these.  Greater  miracles  than  the  healing 
of  the  impotent  man.  Far  greater  works  were 
done  later  in  Christ's  ministrj'  in  Jerusalem  and 
vicinity,  the  consummation  being  the  raising  of 
Lazarus  from  the  dead. — That  ye  may  marvel. 
Here  the  verb  marvel  (d-avuu^M)  is  used  with  the 
idea  of  jiraise  as  well  as  wonder.  The  object  of 
the  wonderful  works  of  God  is  not  merely  to 
awaken  the  wonder  of  mankind,  but,  through 
the  wonder,  the  reverence  and  so  the  allegiance 
of  mankind  to  the  Father  through  Christ  his 
Son. 

21-23.  For  as  the  Father  raiseth  up  the 
dead  and  maketh  them  to  live,  even  so 
the  Son,  whom  he  will,  makes   to   live. 


Observe,  (1)  that  the  verbs  in  this  sentence  are  in 
the  present  tense  ;  Christ  is  therefore  speaking 
of  a  prenent  resurrection,  one  now  taking  place. 
(2)  That  this  resurrection  is  one  recognized 
among  men,  not  one  taking  place  in  the  invisible 
world  (vL-r  23).  (3)  That  as  the  result  of  this 
resurrection,  the  raised  pass  from  death  unto 
life  (vcr.  24).  (4)  That  a  universal  resurrection  is 
not  indicated,  but  only  of  those  whom  he  wilU 
to  raise  (ver.  21).  It  is  then  not  of  a  future  resur- 
rection of  all  men  at  the  last  day,  nor  of  a  present 
resurrection  of  the  literally  dead  taking  place  as 
they  die,  that  Christ  here  sj^eaks,  but  of  a  spirit- 
ual resurrection,  taking  place  on  the  earth,  con- 
fined to  those  whom  the  Saviour  calls  and  who 
hear  and  answer  his  call,  and  so  manifest  to  men 
that  it  is  recognized  as  a  sign  of  the  Saviour's 
power.  As  Christ  has  power  on  earth  to  forgive 
sins  (Mark  2 :  lo),  SO  also  he  has  power  to  raise  the 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins.  Thus  he  is  now,  as 
he  will  be  in  another  sense  in  the  last  day,  the 
resurrection  and  the  life  (John  ii :  25).  This  theme 
of  a  spiritual  resurrection  and  life-giving  occupies 
verses  21-27 ;  then  by  a  natural  transition  Christ 
passes  to  the  future  resurrection  of  the  physical 
dead.  Be  not  surprised,  he  says  in  substance,  at 
my  declarations  i-especting  the  spiritual  resurrec- 
tion ;  for  the  final  resurrection  shall  also  be  at 
my  voice.  Be  not  surprised  at  my  claim  to  be 
now  a  judge,  for  the  great  day  of  judgment  the 
Father  has  also  committed  into  ray  hands, — 
Whom  he  will.  This  phrase  does  not  indicate 
"that  he  specially  confers  this  grace  on  none  but 
certain  men,  that  is,  on  the  elect "  {Calvin) ;  nor 
can  we  Bay  that  "  He  vdW  not  quicken  others  be- 
cause they  believe  not"  {Meyer),  for  though  this 
is  true,  it  is  neither  asserted,  nor  even  hinted  at 
here  ;  nor  is  the  meaning  merely  that  "in  every 
instance  where  his  will  is  to  vivify,  the  result  in- 
vai-iably  follows  "  {A'ford).  Clearly  the  indica- 
tion of  the  passage  is  that  spiritual  life  has  its 
source,  not  in  the  wiU  of  the  sinner  but  in  that  of 
the  Saviour  (cnmp.  ch.  1 :  is;  Rom.  9 :  16) ;  but  the  rea- 
son why  the  divine  will  apparently  chooses  some 
and  not  others,  whether  for  reasons  in  human 
character  and  choice,  or  for  inscrutable  reasons, 
not  explained  nor  indeed  explicable,  is  not  here 
hinted  at. — For  the  Father  judgeth  no  man. 
The  whole  work  of  judgment,  the  whole  moral 
government  of  the  world,  the  whole  course  of 
divine  Pro\idence,  as  regards  the  nation,  the 
church,  and  the  individual,  is  entrusted  to  the 
Son.  See  Psalm  2  ;  Rev.  1  :  5.— That  all  men 
should  honor  the  Son  even  as  they  honor 


70 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  V. 


my  word,  and  beliaveth  on  him  that  sent  me,  hath 
everlasting  lite,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation  ; 
but  is  passed  "  from  death  unto  lite. 
25  Verily,  verily,  1  say  unto  you,  The  hour  is  com- 


ing, and  now  is,  when  the  dead  •>  shall  hear  the  voice 
ot  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  they  that  hear  shall  live. 

26  For  as  the  Father  hath  hie  in  himself ;  so  hath  he 
given  to  the  Son  to  have  lite'^  in  himself; 


I  1  John  3  :  14  ....  b  verse  28  ;  Ephes.  2  :  1 ....  c  1  Cor  15  :  45. 


the  Father.  There  is  some  reasonable  ground 
for  a  diifereuce  of  opinion  as  to  the  proper  inter- 
pretation of  the  preceding  verses,  which  treat  of 
the  relations  of  the  Father  to  the  Son ;  and 
Christian  critics  are  not  wholly  agreed  respecting 
their  meaning.  But  there  can  be  no  room  for 
difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  meaning  of  this 
verse,  which  gives  tlie  practical  outcome  of  those 
which  precede.  Whatever  opinion  the  theolo- 
gian may  entertain  concerning  the  mystery  of 
Christ's  nature,  the  Christian  can  hardly  doubt 
the  plain  teaching  of  Scripture  that  the  highest 
allegiance  that  the  soul  can  pay  to  its  God,  the 
highest  love  it  can  offer,  the  highest  reverence  it 
can  experience,  are  all  due  to  the  Son.  Even  as 
signifies  the  manner  and  the  degree.  So  in 
heaven  the  highest  praises  are  paid  to  the  Lamb 
slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  (Rev.  5 :  12 ; 
7 :  10). — He  that  honoreth  not  the  Son,  hon- 
oreth  not  the  Father  which  hath  sent 
him.  Not  because  the  failure  to  honor  an  am- 
bassador is  a  failure  to  honor  the  king  whom  he 
represents,  but  because  the  honor  paid  to  God 
belongs  to  his  character,  and  of  that  character 
the  Son  is  the  manifestation ;  so  that  the  soul 
that  does  not  honor  the  Son,  who  is  the  bi'ight- 
ness  of  the  Father's  image,  and  who  doeth  all 
things  which  the  Father  does,  and  as  the  Father 
does  them,  does  not  really  honor  the  Father.  In 
truth,  he  who  does  not  recognize  in  Christ  the 
Son  of  the  Father,  the  true  image  of  the  divine 
glory,  has  either  no  true  conception  of  the  Son 
or  none  of  the  Father ;  for  the  only  way  to  the 
Father  is  the  Son.  And  in  fact,  those  forms  of 
theological  doctrine  which  have  tended  to  belit- 
tle Christ  have  also  tended,  in  the  history  of  the 
church,  to  dwarf  worship. 

24.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  nnto  you.  He 
that  heareth  me  and  hath  faith  on  him 
that  sent  me,  hath  eternal  life,  and  comes 
not  into  judgment,  but  has  passed  out  of 
the  death  into  the  life.  The  meaning  of  this 
declaration  is  not  obscure,  though  it  has  been 
sometimes  obscured  by  unbelief.  To  Jtear  the 
word  of  Christ  is  to  hear  it  with  the  spiritual  ear, 
not  merely  with  the  physical  ear.  Thus  those 
may  be  included  who  have  never  heard  of  the 
historic  Christ ;  for  as  he  is  the  Light  of  the 
world,  who  lighteth  every  man  who  cometh  into 
the  world  (ch.  1 : 9,  note),  SO  thosc  who,  without  the 
literal  hearing  of  his  words,  do  hear  and  attend 
to  the  message  which  he  speaks  to  the  soul,  in 
the  inner  experience,  are  to  be  included  among 
those  who  hear  his  words.     To  have  faith  on  him 


that  setvt  me,  is  not  merely  to  believe  his  written 
word,  nor  to  bslieve  that  he  has  sent  Christ  into 
the  world,  nor  to  believe  any  specific  dogma  re- 
specting Christ,  however  important,  but  to  have 
faith  in  an  unseen  divinity,  in  contrast  to  faith  in 
either  one's  self  or  in  any  human  helper.  It  is  to 
direct  faith  toward  this  unseen  God  that  Christ 
came  into  the  world  ;  and  to  have  faith  in  Christ 
is  to  have  faith  in  the  Father  who  sent  him, 
in  order  that  he  might  bring  all  unto  the  Father, 
and  present  all  to  him  (ch.  n :  s,  21, 24).  Cometh  7iot 
i?ito  judgment  is  mistranslated  in  our  English  ver- 
sion. Shall  not  come  into  condemnation.  The  verb 
is  not  future,  and  the  noun  is  judgment,  not  con- 
demnation. "  There  can  be  no  good  reason  why 
the  word  (>rou7i.-,  krisis)  should  be  rendered _;«f?(7- 
meit  in  the  22d  verse,  and  condemnation  in  the 
2ith.  But  from  a  fear,  I  suppose,  lest  the  one 
should  seem  to  contradict  the  other-lest  the 
Son  should  be  thought  not  to  execute  the  judg- 
ment that  had  been  committed  to  him— they  (the 
translators)  were  unfaithful  to  the  letter,  per- 
haps even  more  unfaithful  to  the  spirit,  of  the 
passage." — {Maurice.)  The  promise  is  one  ful- 
filled in  this  life,  a  promise  of  present  not  merely 
future  deliverance,  and  of  a  deliverance  not 
merely  from  condemnation,  but  from  judgment. 
If  the  Christian  comes  into  judgment,  he  would 
also  inevitably  come  into  condemnation  (1  John  1  : 
s,  10).  The  meaning  of  this  verse  then  is,  that 
when  the  soul  has  accepted  Christ  as  its  Master, 
hearing  his  words,  and  following  him,  for  spir- 
itual hearing  involves  following  (ch.  10 :  s,  4\  so  as 
to  live  by  faith  in  God  (cai.  2 :  20),  he  is  no  longer 
subject  to  divine  judgment ;  there  is  no  more 
condemnation  to  them  who  are  thus  in  Christ 
Jesus  (Rom.  8  :  i).  With  this  is  involved  the  fur- 
ther truth  that  there  will  be  no  true  judgment 
for  them  in  the  last  day.  "The  reckoning  which 
ends  with  '  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,' 
is  not  judgment ;  the  reward  is  of  free  grace. 
In  this  sense  the  believers  in  Christ  will  not  be 
judged  according  to  their  works ;  they  are  justi- 
fied before  God  by  faith,  and  by  God.''— {Alford.) 
Finally,  the  last  clause  of  the  verse,  but  hath 
passed  out  of  death  into  life,  indicates  the  true 
condition  of  both  the  impenitent  and  the  be- 
liever ;  the  one  is  already  in  death,  from  which 
he  can  only  be  delivered  by  the  Life-giver ;  the 
other  has  already  entered  into  eternal  life.  This 
is  not  a  future  reward  reserved  for  him ;  it  be- 
gins here  and  now,  though  it  is  to  be  consum- 
mated hereafter.  The  life  is  spiritual  life,  the 
death  spiritual  death.     Of  these  great  realities 


Cii.  v.] 


JOHN. 


71 


27  And  hath  given  him  authority'' to  execute  judg- 
ment also,  because  he  is  the  Son  ot  man. 

28  Marvel  not  at  this  :  for  the  hour  is  coming,  in  the 
which  all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  his  voice, 


29  And  shall  come  forth  ;  they  that  have  done  good, 
unto  the  resurrection  of  life  ;  and  they  that  have  done 
evil,  unto  the  resurrection  ot  damnation.' 


,  e  Dan.  12:2 i  Matt.  25  :  46. 


physical    life    and    death   are    but   tropes    and 
symbols. 

25-27,  The  hour  is  coniiiis:,  and  now  is, 
Avhen,  etc.  The  resurrection  here  spoken  of  is 
then  one  already  taking  place.  In  order  to  meet 
this  evident  requirement  of  the  verse,  those 
commentators  who  refi;ard  Christ  as  throughout 
this  passage  speaking  of  the  final  resurrection 
Buppose  here  a  reference  to  the  cases  of  resur- 
rection which  took  place  in  connection  with  his 
ministry.  But  none  such  had  as  yet  taken  place  ; 
moreover,  this  construction  requires  us  to  sup- 
pose that  Christ  used  the  word  life  in  one  sense 
in  the  preceding  verse  and  in  another  sense  here, 
without  giving  any  indication  of  the  change  of 
meaning.  Ilis  reference  then  I  believe  to  be 
here,  as  throughout  this  passage  up  to  verse  28, 
to  spiritual  death  and  spiritual  resurrection. — 
For  as  the  Father  hath  life  in  himself,  so 
he  hath  given  to  the  Son  to  have  life  in 
himself.  Norton  renders  this  somewhat  enig- 
matical verse  liberally,  thus  :  "For  as  the  Father 
is  the  fountain  of  life,  so  hath  he  given  to  the 
Son  to  be  the  fountain  of  life."  This  must  be 
regarded  rather  as  a  paraphrase  than  as  a  trans- 
lation ;  but  it  embodies  well  the  meaning  of  the 
verse,  as  indicated  by  the  context.  No  man  is  a 
fountain  of  life  to  any  other  man.  He  may  be  a 
conduit,  but  not  a  source.  It  is  given  to  Christ 
to  be  a  source  of  life  himself  to  others.  We  live 
only  as  we  draw  continuously  our  life  from  God  ; 
to  the  Son  the  Father  has  given  life  in  such  a 
sense  that  he  becomes  himself  the  life  of  the 
world,  and  thus  the  life-giver  to  the  dead. — Be- 
cause he  is  a  Son  of  man.  Not,  as  in  the 
English  version,  the  Son  of  man.  The  omission 
of  the  article  is  significant,  for  without  the  article 
the  phrase  son  of  man  means  simply  one  of  the 
human  race ;  with  the  article  it  always  means 
the  Messiah.  Here  then  the  meaning  is  that 
Christ  is  to  be  the  judge  of  all  the  earth,  because 
he  has  taken  on  himself  human  nature.  Why  is 
this  any  reason  that  he  should  he  the  judge  of 
the  world  ?  The  answer  is,  I  think,  indicated  by 
Heb.  5  :  15  :  "We  have  not  an  high-priest  which 
cannot  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirm- 
ities, but  was  tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we 
are,  yet  without  sin."  Our  judge  is  chosen,  be- 
cause he  knows  our  frame,  he  understands  sym- 
pathetically our  temptations,  is  able  to  make 
allowances  for  all  infirmities  and  weaknesses  of 
humanity,  and  for  all  trials  of  life,  and  able,  also, 
to  measure  at  their  true  worth  the  false  excuses 
with  which  we  endeavor  to  excuse  ourselves  to 


ourselves  and  to  our  fellows.  Other  explana- 
tions, for  which  in  detail  see  Meyer,  as  that  judg- 
ment is  a  necessary  part  of  redemption,  or  that 
it  belongs  to  Christ  as  the  Messiah,  or  that  it  is 
given  to  him  as  a  reward  for  accepting  the  hu- 
mility of  human  nature,  seem  to  me  to  be  inad- 
missible. Judgment  is  not  a  part  of  redemp- 
tion ;  it  is  in  no  true  sense  redemptive ;  the 
phrase  a  son  of  man  never  means  the  Messiah  ; 
and  it  would  be  no  reward  to  a  tender  and  loving 
nature  to  exercise  judgment,  except  as  it  afford- 
ed an  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  mercy  in 
judgment. 

28,  29.  Marvel  not  at  this.  Not  only  be- 
cause the  greater  wonder  absorbs  the  less  {Mey- 
er), but  also  because  there  is  nothing  strange  in 
the  declaration  that  he  who  is  to  be  the  final 
judge  of  all  flesh  should  exercise  judgment  now 
on  men,  and  he  who  is  to  be  the  final  resurrection 
and  the  life  should  be  the  resurrection  and  the 
life  in  the  spiritual  realm  now. — For  the  hour 
is  coming.  He  does  not  add  and  now  is,  for 
now  he  is  speaking  not  of  a  present  resurrection, 
but  of  one  to  take  place  only  in  the  future. — AH 
that  are  in  their  graves  shall  hear  his 
voice,  and  shall  come  forth.  A  voice  like 
the  sound  of  a  trumpet  (Rev.  i  :  lo',  and  like  the 
sound  of  many  waters  (Rev.  i :  15),  that  is,  like  the 
roar  of  the  ocean  for  fullness  and  power.  Comp. 
1  Thess.  4  :  16.  The  entire  language  is  highly 
figurative.  If  literally  interpreted  it  would 
seem  to  imply  a  bodily  resurrection,  and  it  is 
apparently  so  understood  by  some  of  the  com- 
mentators, e.  g.,  Alford  and  Olshausen ;  but  it  is 
evident  that  it  cannot  be  literally  interpreted. 
Thus  the  dead  do  not  in  a  literal  sense  hear  his 
voice  ;  their  arousing  is  not  that  of  literal  sleep- 
ers who  have  been  awakened  by  a  voice.  The 
doctrine  that  death  is  a  sleep,  that  the  soul  re- 
mains in  an  unconscious  state  till  the  resurrec- 
tion, and  that  the  life  is  then  anew  given  to  the 
soul  simultaneously  with  the  re-creation  of  the 
body  from  the  dust,  is  so  inconsistent  with  the 
plain  teaching  of  Scripture  in  many  passages  (see 
1  Cor.  15 :  .36-38, 50, 51 ),  that  it  canuot  be  sustained  by 
doubtful  interpretations  of  pictorial  passages 
like  the  present  one.  How  little  ground  there  is 
for  the  opinion  that  the  Bible  supports  a  doctrine 
of  a  literal  and  universal  bodily  resurrection, 
will  be  evident  to  the  student  who  considers  the 
force  of  the  following  passages,  which  are  said 
by  Olshausen,  and  quoted  with  apparent  ap- 
proval by  Alford,  both  of  whom  seem  to  believe 
in  a  literal  resurrection  of  the  body,  to  be  the 


73 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  V. 


30  Is  can  of  mine  own  self  do  nothing  :  as  I  hear,  I 
judge:  and  my  judgment  is  just:  because  1  seek  not 
mine  own  will,  but  the  will ''  of  the  Father  which  hath 
sent  me. 

31  If  1  bear  witness'  of  myself,  my  witness  is  not 
true. 


32  There  is  another  J  that  beareth  witness  of  me  ;  and 
I  l^novv  that  the  witness  which  he  witnesseth  of  me  is 
true. 

33  Ye  sent  unto  John,  and''  he  bare  witness  unto  the 
truth. 

34  But  I  receive  not  testimony  from  man :  but '  these 
things  I  say,  that  ye  might  be  saved. 


g  verse  19 h  ch.  4  :  34 ;  6  :  38  :  Ps.  40  :  7,8;  Matt.  So  ;  39 i  eh.  8  :  14  ;  Prov.  ;7  :  •:  ;  Rev.  3:  14 j  ch.  8  :  18  ;  Acts  10:43;  1  John 

5  c^-g....!!  ch.  1  :  7,  32....1  ch.  20  :  31  j  Rom.  3  :  3. 


only  passages  in  Scripture  which  imply  a  resur- 
rection of  the  bodies  of  the  impenitent :  Acts 
2i  :  15 ;  Matt.  10  :  -28 ;  Matt.  25  :  34,  etc.  ;  Rev. 
20  :  5,  13  ;  Dan.  12  :  2.  No  one  of  these  directly 
asserts  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  some 
of  them  can  hardly  be  said  even  remotely  to  im- 
ply it.  The  doctrine  is  directly  inconsistent  with 
the  teaching  of  Paul  in  1  Cor.,  ch.  15.  See  notes 
there. — They  that  have  done  good  unto  the 
resurrection  of  life.  That  is,  unto  a  resur- 
rection the  necessary  result  of  which  is  life,  life 
In  the  Messiah's  kingdom. — (3feyer.)—And  they 
that  have  practised  evil.  The  righteous 
have  done  good — their  fruit  remains  ;  the  wicked 
have  only  practised  evil — their  works  do  not  fol- 
low them.  The  wheat  is  garnered  into  the  store- 
houses ;  the  chafi  is  destroyed.  See  ch.  3  :  20, 
21. — Unto  the  resurrection  of  judgment. 
Observe  again  that  only  they  that  have  done  evil 
come  into  judgment  (verse  24,  note).  Observe  too 
that  it  is  they  that  have  done  good  to  whom  is 
given  the  gift  gf  eternal  life,  and  they  that  have 
practised  evil  that  enter  into  judgment.  The 
test,  and  the  only  test  of  character  which  the 
New  Testament  recognizes,  is  that  of  fruit  in  the 

actual    life    (Matt  .  7  :  20  ;     12  :  33  ;     25  :  31-46  ;  Ephes.   5:6; 

i  John  3 : 7,  s).  The  works  of  righteousness  are  the 
fruits  of  the  Spirit ;  his  gracious  influences  are 
received  into  the  soul  by  faith,  but  the  evidence 
of  the  abiding  of  that  Spirit  consists  in  the  mani- 
festation of  these  fruits  in  a  righteous  life  (John 

15  :  1,  2,  6  ;  Gal.  5  :  22-24  ;  J.imes  2  :  14-26).     Living  a  Clirist- 

like  life  is  the  only  evidence  of  possessing  a 
Christ-like  spirit. 

30.  In  this  verse  Christ  returns  to  the  state- 
ment made  in  the  beginning  of  the  discourse, 
ver.  19  (see  note  t^aere) ;  he  docs  all  things  as  the 
representative  of  the  Father  and  the  expression 
of  the  Father's  will. — As  I  hear  I  judge.  As 
Christ  is  the  image  of  the  Father,  so  his  voice  is 
the  echo  of  the  Father's  voice. — My  judgment 
is  just,  because  I  seek  not  my  OAvn  will, 
but  the  will  of  the  Father.  To  the  Father 
there  is  no  law  superior  to  his  own  will ;  to  the 
Son  the  will  of  the  Father  is  the  law.  In  this 
declaration  our  Lord  gives  us  an  example  of  the 
way  in  which  we  may  secure  just  judgments  in 
ourselves.  It  is  self-seeking  which  obscures  the* 
judgment.  Unselfish  seeking  of  the  Father's 
will  is  the  great  clarifler  of  the  moral  judgments 
of  the  disciple. 


31.  This  verse  makes  a  transition  from  the 
subject-matter  of  the  discourse  thus  far  to  a  new 
subject.  Christ  has  been  speaking  of  his  own 
character  and  authority  ;  lie  now  passes  to  speak 
of  the  evidences  which  attest  it.  The  verse  is  to 
be  read  not  affirmatively,  but  interrogatively. 
Do  you  say,  if  I  bear  witness  of  myself,  my  wit- 
ness is  not  true  ?  I  will  then  point  you  to  other 
testimony.  That  this  is  the  true  reading  of  the 
verse  is  evident  from  ch.  8  :  14,  where  Christ  de- 
clares that  though  he  bears  witness  of  himself, 
his  witness  is  true.  He  here  anticipates  the  ob- 
jection there  made  by  the  Pharisees  (ch.  8 :  13),  and 
replies  to  it.  In  his  reply,  which  extends  to 
verse  39,  he  cites  in  attestation  of  his  mission 
three  witnesses :  (1)  the  testimony  of  John  the 
Baptist  (vers.  32-35) ;  (2)  his  own  works,  including, 
but  only  incidentally,  his  miracles  (ver.  se)  ;  (3)  the 
personal  testimony  of  the  Father,  speaking 
chieflj'  through  the  0.  T.  Scripture  (vers.  37-39). 

32,  33.  There  is  another  that  beareth 
witness  of  me.  Most  of  the  modern  commen- 
tators consider  this  another  to  be  the  Father.  So 
Alford,  Meyer,  Bengel,  Tholuck,  and  others. 
They  understand  the  connection  to  be  this  :  The 
Father  testifies  to  me ;  John's  testimony  I  do  not 
receive,  because  it  is  human  and  fallible,  but  in 
passing  I  refer  to  it,  for  your  salvation.  Thus 
verses  33-35  are  parenthetical.  The  other  inter- 
jjretation  seems  to  me  the  more  natural  and  pref- 
erable. Christ  gives,  in  an  ascending  climax,  a 
threefold  testimony  to  himself :  first  the  testi- 
mony of  John,  a  prophet,  rather  the  prophet  and 
forerunner  of  the  Messiah  ;  then  his  own  works ; 
finally  the  testimony  of  the  Father,  in  the  heart 
and  through  the  written  word. — And  I  know 
that  the  witness  Avhich  he  witnesseth  of 
me  is  true.  Such  language  confirming  the  tes- 
timony of  John  the  Baptist  is  natural;  such  lan- 
guage in  confirmation  of  the  testimony  of  the 
Father  seems  to  me  strained  and  unnatural. 
What  significance  can  be  given  to  the  statement. 
The  Everlasting  Father  testifies  of  me,  and  I 
know  that  his  testimony  of  me  is  true  ?  It  is  apt 
if  applied  to  John  the  Baptist,  a  human  and  fal- 
lible witness,  whose  language  might  be  attribut- 
ed by  the  Jews  to  extraordinary  and  mistaken 
admiration. — Ye  sent  unto  John.  The  refer- 
ence is  probably  to  the  delegation  which  came 
out  from  Jerusalem  to  inquire  into  John's  char- 
acter and  work  (ch.  1  :  19). — He   bare  Avitness 


Ch.  v.] 


JOHN. 


73 


35  He  was  a  burning  and  a  shining  light :  and  ye 
were  willing '"  for  a  season  to  rejoice  in  his  light. 

36  But  1  have  greater  witness  than  that  ot  John  ;  for 


the  works"  which  the  Father  hath  given  me  to  finish," 
the  same  works  that  I  do,  bear  witness  of  me,  that  the 
Father  hath  sent  me. 


m  Matt.  21  :  26  ;  Mark  6  :  20 n  ch.  10  :  25 ;  15  :  24  j  Acts  2  :  22 0  ch.  17  :  4. 


unto  the  truth.  That  is,  To  the  truth  con- 
ceruiug  Jesus  Christ.  By  this  declaration  Christ 
makes  the  christology  of  John  the  Baptist  his 
own,  and  declares  of  himself  that  he  is  the  Son 
of  God  and  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away 
the  sins  of  the  world.    See  ch.  1  :  39,  3i. 

34,  35.  But  I  receive  not  testimony 
from  man.  This  is  not  equivalent  to,  I  will  not 
avail  myself  of  human  witness  in  this  matter 
{Meyer) ;  he  does  in  fact  avail  himself  of  human 
witness,  cites  it,  and  declares  the  reason  why  he 
does  so,  that  his  auditors  may  by  it  be  saved 
from  fatal  error;  nor  does  it  merely  mean,  as 
Calvin,  that  he  cites  this  testimony  out  of  regard 
to  them  rather  than  to  himself,  though  this  is 
true,  and  equally  true  of  all  his  ministry,  and  of 
aU  the  testimony  which  he  cites  in  support  of  his 
divine  claims.  Here,  as  in  so  many  other  places 
in  the  N.  T.,  especially  in  the  reports  of  Christ's 
words,  the  careful  study  of  the  original  clears  up 
obscurity  which  is  felt  in  the  translation,  and 
sometimes  which  any  mere  translation  fails  to 
clear  away.  From  (ttuou),  when  joined  to  verbs 
of  inquiring,  asking,  and  learning,  indicates  that 
the  matter  to  be  learned  is  viewed  as  in  the  men- 
tal possession  of  the  person  cited  (see  Winer^  §  47, 
p.  355),  that  is,  as  derived  from  him  and  depen- 
dent on  his  testimony.  So  in  common  language 
with  us,  "I  know  such  a  fact  to  be  true,  for  I 
learned  it  from  Mr.  A.,"  indicates  Mr.  A.  as  the 
authority  for  the  statement.  Christ's  declaration 
here  then  is,  not  that  he  will  not  use  human  tes- 
timony, but  that  his  claims  do  not  depend  upon 
it.  Compare  Matt.  11  :  27,  "  No  man  knoweth 
the  Son  but  the  Father,"  and  Matt.  16  :  17, 
"  Flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  (the  truth 
respecting  Jesus)  unto  thee,  but  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven."  The  testimony  of  John  the 
Baptist,  like  that  of  all  the  prophets,  is  not  in 
truth  testimony  of  or  from  man,  but  testimony 
from  God,  through  man,  the  man  speaking  as  he 
is  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  the  moral  for 
us  is  that  all  mere  human  argument  for  and  wit- 
ness to  the  character  of  Christ  breaks  down  ;  it 
is  only  as  the  divine  character  has  been  divinely 
revealed  to  us,  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  that  we  can 
hope  to  persuade  others  of  the  truth,  a  lesson 
abundantly  confirmed  in  the  history  of  the  church 
by  its  dealings  with  infidelity.  Unbelief  is  to 
be  vanquished  by  spiritual,  not  by  mere  intellec- 
tual power.  Alford  represents  the  idea  well  by 
a  free  translation,  "I  take  not  my  testimony 
from  man." — These  things  I  say  that  ye 
misrht  be  saved.  Blind  to  the  testimony  of  the 
O.  T.  (2  Cor.  3  :  14),  uuspiritual,  and  therefore  deaf 


to  the  inner  voice  of  God  (i  Cor.  2 :  14),  there  is  hope 
that  they  may  heed  the  recent  testimony  of  John, 
whom  all  men  counted  for  a  prophet  (Matt.  21  :  26), 
and  whose  baptism  even  the  Pharisees  and  the 
Sadducees  had  attended  (Matt.  3 :  7).  Therefore 
he  cites  it  to  them,  that  he  may  by  any  means 
save  some.  He  seeks  to  outflank  their  prejudice. 
— He  was  the  lamp,  kindled  and  shining. 
Observe  the  difCerence  between  this  translation 
and  that  of  our  English  version.  He  was  not  a 
light,  but  the  lamp ;  not  burning,  but  kindled.  A 
common  title  given  to  famous  Rabbis  was  The 
candle  of  the  law ;  Christ  borrows  it,  applies  it 
to  John,  and  declares  him  to  have  been  the  lamp, 
lighting  not  the  law,  but  the  way  to  Christ.  The 
lamp,  because  the  one  foretold  in  the  prophets 
to  light  the  way  of  the  Lord  and  prepare  for  his 
coming.  The  lamp,  not  light.  Two  difEerent 
Greek  words  {Iv/yoq  and  f/)wc)  are  erroneously 
rendered  by  the  same  English  word,  light,  Man 
is  but  a  lamjJ  ;  Christ  is  the  light  which  lighteth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world  (ch.  1 : 9) ; 
and  man  (the  lamp)  can  give  light  to  others 
only  as  he  is  himself  filled  with  Christ  (the  true 
and  only  light).  This  lamp  is  kindled  {xuio/mrog, 
passive),  i.  e.,  by  the  touch  of  God,  as  a  lamp  un- 
able to  give  light  until  it  is  fiUed  and  lighted  by 
the  owner's  hand ;  and  shining,  as  one  of  the 
lights  of  the  world  (Matt.  5  :  u),  shming  with 
divine  light  because  kindled  by  a  divine  hand 
and  partaking  of  the  divine  nature  (lumen 
illuminatum,  not  lumen  illuminans). — And  ye 
were  willing  for  a  season  to  rejoice  in  his 
light.  The  two  marks  of  a  spurious  religious 
enthusiasm.  They  were  wUling  to  rejoice,  but 
not  to  repent;  they  were  ready  to  "enjoy  reli- 
gion," but  not  to  "bring  forth  fruit  meet  for 
repentance;"  they  flocked  in  great  crowds  to 
John's  Baptism  (Matt,  a :  5),  much  as  men  now 
flock  to  camp  and  tabernacle  meetings ;  but  they 
were  not  ready  to  "do  justly,  love  mercy,  and 
walk  humbly  before  God. "  And  their  enthusiasm 
was  but  "for  a  season,"  as  all  merely  emotional 
enthusiasm  is.  It  made  no  practical  and  lifelong 
change  in  their  character  or  conduct. 

36.  But  I  have  greater  Avitness  than  that 
of  John;  for  the  works  which  the  Father 
hath  given  me  to  finish.  From  the  testimo- 
ny of  John  the  Baptist,  Jesus  passes  to  the  sec- 
ond authentication  of  his  mission,  the  works 
which  he  is  doing.  These  works  are  not  merely 
nor  prunarily  his  miracles.  Against  this  narrow 
and  unspiritual  interpretation  the  church  should 
have  been  saved  by  even  a  careful  study  of  the 
words.     For  (a)  the  word  here  rendered  works 


74 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  V. 


37  And  the  Father  p  himself,  which  hath  sent  me, 
hatn  borne  witness  of  me.  Ye  1  have  neither  heard  his 
voice  at  any  time,  nor  seen  his  shape. 


38  And  ye  have  not  his  word  ■■  abiding  in  you  :  for 
whom  he  hath  sent,  him  ye  believe  not. 

39  Search » the  Scriptures ;  for  in  them  j-e  think  ye 


p  Matt.  3:  17;  17:5. ...q  Deut.  4:12;  1  Tim.  6  :  16  ....  r  1  John  2  :  14  ....  8  Isa.  8  :  20  ;  34  :  16. 


(tQYor)  is  never  used  by  John  as  equivalent  to  a 
miracle,  but  always,  when  in  connection  with 
Christ,  as  significant  of  his  whole  course  of  benefi- 
cent and  redeeming  activity  ;  (b)  in  this  very  dis- 
course Christ  uses  it  in  connection  with  and  in 
reference  to  his  work  of  spiritual  life-giving  to 
the  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  (vera.  20, 21) ;  (c)  the 
phrase  "hath  given  me  to  finish  "  points  forward 
to  the  time  when  he  should  be  able  to  say  m  prayer 
to  his  Father,  "1  have  finished  the  work  which 
thou  gavest  me  to  do  "  (ch.  17 ;  5 ;  comp.  4  :  34),  and  in 
his  last  triumphant  cry  upon  the  cross,  "It  is 
finished"  (ch.  19 :  so).  The  matter  is  important 
because  the  church  needs  to  recognize  that  the 
evidences  of  Christianity  on  which  Christ  relied 
are  not  the  miracles,  which  arc  purely  historical 
acts,  the  historic  veracity  of  which  must  be 
proved  like  that  of  any  other  past  events,  but 
the  whole  work  of  redeeming  love,  the  visible 
and  indubitable  fruits  of  which  are  to  be  unceas- 
ingly seen  in  the  victories  of  Christianity  over 
the  individual  and  over  communities. — The 
same  Avorks  that  I  am  doing.  Not  have 
done,  which  might  have  been  said  of  miracles  al- 
ready wrought,  but  am  now  engaged  in  doing, 
which  alone  could  be  said  of  the  unceasing  work 
of  him  who  ever  went  about  doing  good.  Ob- 
serve that  the  works  which  he  is  doing  are  those 
which  the  Father  hath  given  him  to  do  (vers.  19, 20, 
notes),  and  that  whatever  the  Father  hath  given 
him,  that  he  does  (ch.  is :  11). — Bear  witness  of 
me,  that  the  Father  hath  sent  me.  Be- 
cause they  are  manifestations  of  the  Father's  love. 
The  message  which  the  Son  has  come  to  bring  is 
the  message  of  the  Father's  grace  (ch.  1  :  14). 

37,  38.  And  he  Avhich  hath  sent  me,  the 
Father  himself,  hath  borne  Avitness  of 
ine.  The  past  tense  of  the  verb  indicates  a  com- 
pleted testimony,  borne  in  past  time,  but  acces- 
sible to  present  hearers.  The  meaning  therefore 
cannot  be  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  to  Christ's  char- 
acter and  mission,  a  continuously  fresh  testimony, 
which  is  however  borne  only  to  those  that  are 
already  the  sons  of  God,  through  a  measurable 
faith  in  Jesus  as  Saviour  and  Messiah.  The  ref- 
erence is  possibly  in  part  to  the  testimony  which 
the  Father  had  borne  at  the  baptism  to  Christ  as 
his  well-beloved  Son  (Matt.  3 :  17),  a  testimony  re- 
peated on  other  occasions  (Matt.  17  :  5  ;  John  12  :  28)  ; 

but  the  primary  reference  is  to  the  testimony 
borne  to  God  in  the  O.  T.  Scriptures,  which  were 
to  the  Jewish  nation  witnesses  to  the  Messiah, 
whose  coming  they  heralded,  and  whose  work 
they  described  (Luke  24  :  27-41 ;  acu  is  :  27).  —  No 


voice  of  his  have  ye  ever  heard,  no  ap- 
pearance of  his  have  ye  ever  seen,  and  his 
Avord  ye  have  not  abiding  in  you.  This 
gives  as  nearly  literally  as  is  possible  the  mean- 
ing of  the  original.  Two  interpretations  are 
possible.  One  is  that  indicated  by  our  English 
version.  According  to  this  inteipretation  Christ 
declares  the  general  philosophic  truth,  that  the 
Father  is  a  Spirit,  and  therefore  invisible  and 
inaudible,  to  be  spiritually  discerned ;  and  since 
the  Jews  have  not  spiritual  discernment,  since 
they  have  not  God's  word  abiding  in  them,  they 
are  without  any  knowledge  of  God  or  under- 
standing of  his  witness.  The  other  interpretation 
is  that  indicated  by  the  more  literal  translation 
given  above.  According  to  this  translation  it  is 
the  language  of  "  reproach  for  want  of  suscepti- 
bility to  this  (divine)  testimony  "  {Meyer).  This 
was  the  view  of  Calvin,  who  here,  as  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  so  many  other  passages,  anticipated 
the  results  of  later  criticism.  "When  he  says 
that  they  had  never  heard  the  voice  of  God  or 
seen  his  shape,  these  are  metaphorical  expres- 
sions, by  which  he  intends  to  state  generally  that 
they  are  utterly  estranged  from  the  knowledge 
of  God."  This  last  I  believe  to  be  the  correct 
interpretation,  both  because  it  more  nearly  ac- 
cords with  the  literal  rendering  of  the  original, 
and  because,  according  to  the  other  interpreta- 
tion, Christ  inserts  in  the  midst  of  his  discourse 
an  abstract  statement  of  philosophic  truth,  in  a 
manner  which,  if  not  absolutely  artificial,  is  at 
least  quite  unlike  his  usual  method.  Mis  word 
abiding  in  you  is  the  word  of  the  O.  T.  This 
they  had ;  but  it  was  external  to  them.  They 
did  not  believe  it  "  with  the  heart  unto  righteous- 
ness "  (Rom.  10 :  10).  It  was  not  an  abiding  force  in 
the  shaping  of  their  conduct  or  the  formation  of 
their  character.  He  only  can  truly  comprehend 
what  the  Scriptures  teach  concerning  God,  who 
yields  obedience  to  whatever  they  teach  concern- 
ing duty  ;  for  it  is  only  as  the  divine  attributes 
are  reproduced  in  us  that  we  can  approximate 
an  understanding  of  them  in  God. — For  Avhom 
he  hath  sent,  in  him  ye  have  not  faith. 
This  may  be  regarded  either  as  the  reason  why 
they  have  not  seen  God  nor  heard  his  voice,  be- 
cause they  have  not  faith  in  his  Son ;  or  as  the 
evidence  that  they  have  not  seen  God,  etc.,  since 
if  they  had  they  would  have  faith  m  his  Son. 
The  latter  is  the  preferable  interpretation,  He 
that  is  truly  and  spiritually  familiar  with  the 
Father  will  discern  the  Father's  lineaments  in  the 
Son ;  he  that  does  not  recognize  the  divinity  in 


Ch.  v.] 


JOHN. 


<o 


have  eternal  life :  and  ttiey  are '  they  which  testify  of 
me. 

40  And  ye  will  not  come"  to  me,  that  ye  might  have 
lite. 

41  I  receive  not  honour  from ''  men. 

42  But  I  know  you,  that  ye  have  not  the  love  of  God 
in  you. 


43  I  am  come  in  my  Father's  name,  and  ye  receive 
me  not :  it  another  shall  come  in  his  own  name,  him  ye 
will  receive. 

44  How  can  ye  believe,  which "  receive  honour  one 
of  another,  and  seek  ='  not  the  honour  that  cometh  l>om 
God  only? 


tLuke24:27;    1  Pel.  1  :  10,  11....U  ch.  3  :  19.  ...v  vorse  34  ;    1  Tbess.  2  ;  6. 


cli.  12  :43  ...%  Rom.  2  :  10. 


the  Sou  bears  thereby  witness  that  he  does  not 
truly  know  in  what  divinity  consists. 

39,  40.  Ye  search  the  Scriptures  be- 
cause in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal 
life;  and  they  are  they  which  testify  con- 
cerning ine;  and  still  ye  will  not  come 
unto  me  that  ye  might  have  life.  The  verb 
search  {eQeviure)  may  be  rendered  either  as  im- 
perative or  as  indicative.  Alford  and  Tholuck 
make  it,  as  does  the  English  version,  imperative, 
thus  interpreting  it  as  a  direction  to  search  the 
Scriptures  ;  Meyer,  Bengal,  Olshausen,  and  Go- 
det  make  it  indicative,  thus  interpreting  it  as  a 
statement  of  a  fact  and  a  basis  for  the  condemna- 
tion which  follows.  Which  interpretation  is  cor- 
rect is  to  be  determined  wholly  by  the  context 
and  the  circumstances ;  either  is  grammatically 
correct.  It  appears  to  me  clear,  both  from  the 
context  and  the  audience,  that  Christ  does  not 
give  here  a  command  or  an  exhortation,  but 
simply  states  a  fact.  For  (1)  he  Is  addressing 
men  who  did  not  need  a  direction  to  Scriptural 
study  ;  the  great,  almost  the  exclusive,  study  of 
the  Jewish  Rabbis  was  either  the  Scriptures  or 
the  commentaries  thereon.  It  is  true  that  their 
search  was  not  spiritual ;  they  stopped  with  the 
letter  which  killeth,  and  disregarded  the  spirit 
which  giveth  life  ;  but  this  was  a  reason,  not  for 
an  exhortation  to  more  searching,  but  to  a  dif- 
ferent spirit  in  the  searching.  (2)  The  theme  of 
Christ's  discourse  here  would  not  naturally  lead 
to  an  exhortation  to  Bible  study.  He  is  pointing 
them  to  himself ;  and  their  failure  to  find  him 
was  not  because  they  were  not  familiar  with  the 
Scriptures,  but  because  a  veil  was  over  their 
hearts  when  they  read  it  (2  Cor.  3  :  15).  I  under- 
stand then  that  Christ  in  this  verse  notes  a  con- 
trast between  l^e  Scriptures  and  himself ;  the 
Jews  search  the  Scriptures  because  i7i  them  they 
think  to  find  eternal  life.  But  eternal  life  is  not 
in  the  Book ;  it  is  in  the  person  to  whom  the 
Book  bears  witness.  And  they  search  in  vain 
who  do  not  find  in  it  the  Christ  to  whom  the 
Book  bears  testimony.  In  contrast  with  their 
searching,  note  the  spirit  and  method  of  the 
Bereans,  who  searched  to  see  if  these  thiyigs  2vere 
so  (acu  17 :  10, 11),  that  is,  with  a  docile  and  inquir- 
ing, not  a  predetermined  mind. — Ye  will  not 
come  unto  me.  Though  the  Scriptures  which 
they  searched  so  diligently  contained  testimony 
to  a  suffering  and  saving  Messiah,  they  would 


not  come  to  him.  They  were  as  one  who  reads 
a  guide-board,  but  goes  not  whither  it  points. — 
That  ye  might  have  life.  The  object  of 
Christ's  coming  was  to  give  life ;  the  object  of 
coming  to  Christ  is  to  receive  life  (ch.  10  :  10).  The 
kind  of  life  imparted  by  him  and  to  be  received 
by  us  is  indicated  in  Ephes.  2  :  10 ;  Gal.  5  :  32,  23, 

41,  42.  I  receive  not  honor  from  men. 
It  is  true  that  at  his  name  every  knee  shall  bow 
and  every  tongue  shall  confess  him  to  be  Lord, 
but  to  theglorij  of  Oocl  the  Father  (phu.  2 :  10, 11).  As 
the  Christian  lets  his  light  shine  that  men  may 
glorify  Christ,  so  Christ's  light  glorifies  the 
Father.  Moreover,  this  honor  is  not  derived 
from  men.  What  was  said  on  the  meaniag  of  the 
original  on  ver.  34  (see  note  there)  is  equally  applica- 
ble here.  From  men  {na^u)  indicates  the  origi- 
nal source.  Christ's  glory  comes  from  the  Fa- 
ther (phu.  2:9);  human  voices  do  but  echo  the 
divine  voice. — I  know  you.  As  no  man  ever 
knows  his  fellow-men.  For  illustration  of 
Christ's  divine  insight  into  the  hearts  of  men,  see 
Matt,  9:4;  John  3  :  24 ;  Heb,  4  :  13.— That  ye 
have  not  the  love  of  God  in  you.  They 
who  were  condemning  Christ  for  a  violation  of 
the  ceremonial  law  of  the  Sabbath  were  them- 
selves guilty  of  violating  the  first  and  great  com- 
mandment of  the  law  (oeut.  6:5). 

43,  44.  In  my  Father's  name.  "The 
name  of  God,  of  Christ,  is  a  paraphrase  for  God 
himself,  Christ  himself,  in  all  their  being,  attri- 
butes, relations,  manifestations."  —  {Rob.  Lex., 
art.  ovoua.)  See  Matt,  28  :  19,  note.  Here,  there- 
fore, Christ's  declaration  is  primarily,  I  have 
come  in  the  power  of  the  Father,  not  in  my  own 
power,  or  with  my  own  authority  ;  and  seconda- 
rily, I  have  come  to  manifest  and  glorify  not  my- 
self, but  Him. — If  another  shall  come  in  his 
own  name,  him  ye  will  receive.  The  ref- 
erence is  primarily  to  the  false  Christs,  of  whom 
many  have  been  at  different  times  received  by 
Jews,  See  Matt.  34  : 5,  note.  .But  the  declara- 
tion has  a  wider  application  to  all  times  and  na- 
tions. Wherever  the  minister  is  received,  not  as 
a  guide  to  God,  but  as  an  independent  object  of 
hero-worship,  he  is  received  in  his  own  name. — 
How  can  ye  have  faith  Avhich  receive 
honor  derived  from  (naQu)  one  another? 
Earthly  ambition  is  inconsistent  with  spiritual 
growth.  He  that  seeks  the  perishable  cannot  at 
the  same  time  seek  the  imperishable  crown.— 


76 


JOHX. 


[Ch.  VL 


45  Do  not  think  that  I  will  accuse  3^ou  to  the  Father : 
there  is^  one  that  accuseth  you,  even  Moses,  in  whom 
ye  trust. 


46  For  had  ye  believed  Moses,  j»e  would  have  be- 
lieved me  :  tor  he^  wrote  of  me. 

47  Bnt  if  ye^  believe  not  his  writings,  how  shall  ye 
believe  my  words  ? 


y  Rom.  2  :  12 z  Gen.  3  :  15  ;  22  :  IS  ;  Deut.  IS  :  15,  18;  Acts  26  :  22 a  Luke  16  :  31. 


And  seek  not  the  honor  Avhich  cometh 
from  the  only  God.  Not,  as  in  our  English 
version,  from  God  only.  The  structure  of  the 
sentence  forbids  that  interpretation.  The  refer- 
ence is  to  such  passages  as  Exod.  8  :  10  ;  9  :  14  ; 
20  :  3  ;  Deut.  4  :  35,  39 ;  2  Sam.  7  :  22 ;  Isa.  45  : 
5,  6,  etc.  To  those  who  seek  from  the  one  and 
only  true  God  glory  and  honor  and  immortality, 
by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  and  to 
them  alone,  is  the  gift  of  eternal  life  promised 

(Rom.  2:6,7). 

45-47.  Do  not  think  that  I  will  be  your 
accuser  before  the  Father.  The  imagery  is 
borrowed  from  the  course  of  judicial  proceed- 
ings. In  the  last  judgment  Christ  will  be  judge 
(ver.  37),  not  public  prosecutor. — There  is  one 
that  accuseth  you.  Observe  the  present 
tense,  who  is  accusing  you.  The  law  is  a  perpet- 
ual accusation  against  the  sinner  (Rom.  2 :  15;  3 :  19, 
20),  from  whose  indictments  there  is  no  escape 
except  in  the  pardon  offered  by  the  grace  of 
God  through  Jesus  Christ.  Eor  prophetic  and 
specific  accusations  of  the  Jewish  nation  in  the 
Mosaic  writings,  see  Deut.  31  :  21,  26. — Even 
Moses.  The  law-giver  is  put  for  the  law. — In 
whom  ye  have  put  your  hopes,  {d;  or)  For 
the  meaning  of  in  whom  (tic  01),  see  2  Cor.  1 :  10. 
J?i  (dg)  signifies  the  end  toward  which  any  action 
tends  ;  with  verbs  indicating  a  mental  action, 
the  object  of  that  action.  The  hopes  of  the  Jews 
looked  toward  Moses,  i.  e.,  toward  an  exact  obe- 
dience of  the  letter  of  the  law  given  by  Moses, 
not  toward  a  spiritual  communion  with  the  Fa- 
ther whose  children  they  were  called  to  be.  For 
a  portrayal,  autobiographically,  of  this  legal  and 
8elf-riif>iteous  hope,  see  Phil.  3  : 4-6.— Had  ye 
believed  Moses.  Not  believed  in  or  on  him; 
the  chQd  of  God  believes  the  prophets,  he  be- 
lieves in  or  071  Christ  only.  If  the  Jews  had 
really  believed  Moses,  even  as  a  teacher,  they 
would  have  believed  on  Christ ;  for  Moses  testi- 
fied of  Christ.— For  he  wrote  of  me.  An 
incidental  testimony  to  the  Mosaic  authorship  of 
the  books  usually  attributed  by  the  Jews  to 
Moses,  viz.,  the  first  five  books  of  the  O.  T.  ;  also 
an  indication  of  the  prophetic  and  typical  charac- 
ter of  the  ceremonial  law.  Moses  was  a  prophet 
because  the  entire  O.  T.  ceremonial  and  service 
— temple  sacrifices,  ablutions,  etc. — were  prophe- 
cies, fulfilled  in  and  by  Christ.  Thus  Christ 
himself  incidentally  confirms  that  view  of  the 
O.  T.  ceremonial  which  underlies  and  is  most 
fully  expounded  by  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 
— But  if  ye  believe  not  his  writings,  how 


shall  ye  believe  my  words  ?  "  The  meaning 
is,  Men  give  greater  weight  to  what  is  written 
and  published,  the  letter  of  a  book,  than  to  mere 
word  of  mouth  ;  and  ye  in  particular  give  greater 
honor  to  Moses  than  to  Me  :  if  then  ye  believe 
not  what  he  has  written,  which  comes  down  to 
you  hallowed  by  the  reverence  of  ages,  how  can 
you  believe  the  words  which  are  uttered  by  Me, 
to  whom  ye  are  hostile  ?  This  however  is  not 
all  ;  Moses  leads  to  Christ ;  is  one  of  the  witnesses 
by  which  the  Father  hath  testified  of  Him ;  '  if 
then  ye  have  rejected  the  means,  how  shall  ye 
reach  the  end?''  If  your  unbelief  has  stopped 
the  path,  how  shall  ye  arrive  at  Him  to  whom  it 
leads?"— (J.{/brcZ.) 


Ch.  6  i  1-15.  FEEDING  OF  THE  FIVE  THOUSAND.— 
The  grace,  the  BOUNTr,  the  power,  and  the 
METHOD  OF  Christ  illustrated. 

Of  this  miracle  accounts  are  given  by  the  four 

Evangelists  (Matt.  U  :  13-33 ;  Mark  6  :  32-52  ;  Luke  9  :  10-1?)  ; 

and  it  is  the  only  miracle  recorded  by  them  all. 
There  are  some  differences  in  their  records  ;  for 
details  see  notes  below.  In  the  main  the  three 
Synoptics  agree,  whUe  the  differences  between 
them  and  the  Fourth  Gospel  are  more  considera- 
ble. According  to  the  Synoptics  Jesus  and  his 
disciples  crossed  the  Sea  of  Galilee  to  the  east 
side  ;  the  people,  going  round  by  land,  outran 
them,  and  apparently  were  waiting  for  them  on 
the  shore  (Mark) ;  Christ  therefore  abandoned  his 
original  design  of  rest,  and  devoted  the  day  to 

instruction    (Mark)    and    healing    (Matthew  and  Luke). 

When  evening  was  come  the  disciples  asked  him 
to  send  the  people  away  to  the  villages  to  get 
necessary  food ;  Jesus  replied,  Give  ye  them  to 
eat ;  the  disciples  answered  that  they  had  noth- 
ing but  five  loaves  and  two  small  fishes  to  give  ; 
and  from  these  Jesus  fed  them.  According  to 
John,  Jesus  crossed  over  the  sea  with  his  disci- 
ples, went  up  into  the  hills,  and  there  sat  with 
them ;  while  sitting  there  he  saw  the  people 
coming  round  by  land,  proposed  to  feed  them, 
asked  Philip  where  they  should  get  the  bread, 
and  apparently  going  down  to  the  plain  to  feed 
the  people,  took  the  five  loaves  and  two  small 
fishes  and  distributed  them  among  the  people. 
All  agree,  however,  as  to  the  main  facts :  the 
feeding  of  five  thousand  on  five  loaves  and  two 
small  fishes,  and  the  gathering  of  twelve  baskets 
of  fragments,  are  narrated  by  all  four  Evangel- 
ists ;  the  subsequent  departure  of  Christ  into  the 
mountain  for  solitude  and  prayer,  the  embarka- 
tion of  the  disciples  by  boat,  and  his  walking  to 


Ch.  VL] 


JOHN. 


77 


them  upon  the  sea  are  recounted  by  all  but  Luke ; 
Matthew  alone  gives  the  account  of  Peter's  at- 
tempt to  walk  upon  the  water  to  meet  Jesus. 
Harmonists  have  endeavored  to  combine  these 
accounts  in  one  consistent  narrative  ;  this  is  the 
work,  however,  rather  of  imagination  than  of 
criticism ;  any  such  harmony  is  necessarily  hypo- 
thetical. The  attempts  have  succeeded  in  so  far 
as  to  show  that  the  accounts  are  capable  of  com- 
bination. It  may  be  added  that  the  variations 
are  just  such  as  we  might  expect  in  narratives 
coming  from  independent  eye-witnesses,  and  not 
such  as  we  might  expect  in  different  fictitious 
accounts,  or  in  different  versions  of  a  myth,  de- 
rived from  the  same  tradition.  The  miracle 
took  place  immediately  on  the  return  of  the 
twelve  after  executing  the  commissions  given 
to  them  in  Matthew,  ch.  10 ;  the  immediate  ob- 
ject of  Christ  in  retiring  to  the  eastern  shore  of 
the  Sea  of  Galilee  was  to  secure  quiet  for  a  per- 


sonal conference  with  the  twelve  respecting  their 
work  (Mark  6 :  3o).  For  further  statement  of  the 
chronologj'  of  the  event,  and  the  most  probable 
harmony  of  the  four  accounts,  see  Matt.  14  : 
lS-27,  note.  A  topographical  difficulty  is  pre- 
sented by  an  apparent  but  not  real  inconsistency 
between  Luke  9  :  10  and  Mark  6  :  45.  According 
to  Luke,  Christ  took  the  twelve  with  him  into  a 
desert  place  belonging  to  Bethsaida,  whither  the 
multitude  followed  him  ;  according  to  Mark, 
after  feeding  the  multitude  he  told  the  twelve 
to  sail  across  to  the  other  side  unto  Bethsaida. 
Thus  Luke  seems  to  place  Bethsaida  on  the  east- 
ern, and  Mark  on  the  western  shore  of  the  lake, 
and  this  has  led  to  the  hypothesis  that  there 
were  two  Bethsaidas,  an  hypothesis  generally 
adopted  by  the  commentators,  without,  it  seems 
to  me,  suflBcient  inquiry.  It  has  no  historical 
confirmation,  was  invented  to  harmonize  Luke 
and  Mark,  and  is  needless.    Let  the  reader  com- 


BBTHSAIDA. 


pare  the  map  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  (Vol.  I,  p. 
343)  with  the  accompanying  illustration,  in  which 
he  looks  down  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee  from  the 
north.  The  ruins  in  the  foreground  are  those  of 
Bethsaida ;  the  river  is  the  Jordan.  Probably  in 
ancient  times  the  town  of  Bethsaida  reached  to 
or  near  the  shore  of  the  lake.  The  mountains  in 
the  distance  are  those  on  the  eastern  shore  of 
Galilee,  and  the  plain  at  their  foot  is  the  plain  of 
Butaiha,  where  the  five  thousand  were  fed. 
Christ  was  at  or  near  Capernaum ;  sailed  \\ith 


his  disciples  across  the  Sea  of  Galilee  to  the  plain 
of  Butaiha,  at  the  foot  of  the  hills  on  the  north- 
eastern shore  of  the  lake,  not  far  from  Bethsaida, 
After  the  attempt  of  the  multitude  to  make 
Jesus  king,  he  bade  them  embark  and  row  along 
the  shore  toward  (^ydc)  Bethsaida  (Mark  6:-i5>, 
where  he  proposed  to  meet  them.  A  sudden 
wind  rising  and  blowing  down  the  Jordan  valley 
from  the  Lebanon  range  (see  on  verses  i6-is),  drove 
the  disciples'  boat  out  into  the  lake  ;  and  it  was- 
while  they  were  rowing  back,  against  the  wind, 


78 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VI. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

AFTER *>  these  things  Jesus  went  over  the  sea  of 
Galilee,  which  is  the  sea  ot  Tiberias. 
2  And  a  great  multitude  followed  him,  because  they 
saw  his  miracles  which  he  did  on  them  that  were  dis- 
eased. 


3  And  Jesus  went  up  into  a  mountain,  and  there  he 
sat  with  his  disciples. 

4  And  the  passover,  a  feast  of  the  Jews,  was  nigh. 

5  When  Jesus  then  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  saw  a 
great  company  come  unto  him,  he  safth  unto  Philip, 
Whence  shall  we  buy  bread,  that  these  may  eat  > 

6  And  this  he  said  to  prove  him  :  for  he  himself  knew 
what  he  would  do. 


b  Matt.  14  :  15,  etc.  :  Mark  6  :  34,  etc. ;  Luke  9  :  12,  etc. 


toward  Bethsaida,  where  their  Lord  had  prom- 
ised to  meet  them,  that  he  came  out  upon  the 
waves  for  that  purpose.  Thus  it  is  true  that 
when  they  left  Capernaum  for  the  plain  of  Bu- 
taiha  in  the  morning,  they  were  going  over  to  a 
plain  belonging  to  the  city  of  Bethsaida,  as  Luke 
reports ;  and  also  true  that  when  they  started 
back  in  the  evening  in  the  direction  of  Caperna- 
um, as  John  reports  (ver.  17,  tl?  indicating  the 
ultimate  point  they  had  in  view),  they  were  also 
going  toward  Bethsaida,  which  lay  on  the  north- 
ern shore,  and  not  far  from  midway  between  the 
eastern  and  the  western  shores.  See  further, 
Mark  6  :  45,  note. 

1,2.  After  these  things.  Not  a  definite 
note  of  time.  It  was  subsequent  to  the  healing 
of  the  impotent  man  at  the  foot  of  Bethesda. 
But  many  and  important  events  had  intervened. 
See  Tabular  Harmony  of  Gospels,  Vol.  I,  p.  4i. — 
Which  is  the  Sea  of  Tiberias.  John,  writ- 
ing for  Gentile  readers,  gives  the  name  by  which 
this  body  of  water  was  best  kno\\Ti  in  the  Gen- 
tile world.  For  map  and  description,  see  Vol.  I, 
p.  3i3.  The  eastern  shore  was  not  populous  ;  it 
is  to  this  day  comparatively  a  solitude  ;  Christ 
went  thither  with  his  disciples  partly  for  rest  and 
a  quiet  conference  (Mark  6 :  so,  si),  and  partly  in 
consequence  of  the  death  of  John  the  Baptist, 
perhaps  to  avoid  the  possibility  of  danger  to  him- 
self and  to  them  from  Herod.  After  the  sermon 
which  followed  this  miracle  of  feeding,  reported 
in  this  chapter  by  John,  he  engaged  no  more  in 
any  public  ministry  in  Galilee.  See  Matt.  15  : 
29-39,  note. — Because  they  saw  his  mira- 
cles Avhich  he  did.  John  has  not  recorded 
any  miracles  done  at  this  time  in  Galilee,  and 
only  two  performed  at  any  time  in  GalUee.  This 
is  one  of  those  incidental  references  which  makes 
it  clear  to  my  mind  that  John  wrote  not  only 
with  a  personal  knowledge  of  the  writings  of  the 
other  Evangelists  or  some  of  them,  but  with  a 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  their  writings  would 
be  familiar  to  the  readers  of  his  own  Gospel. 
The  miracles  referred  to  here  are  those  per- 
formed in  Christ's  Galilean  ministry  subsequent 
to  his  return  from  the  second  Passover  at  Jerusa- 
lem. They  are  recorded  in  Matthew,  chaps. 
8-13  ;  Mark,  chaps.  2-5  ;  and  Luke,  chaps.  5-8. 

3,  4.  And  Jesus  went  up  into  the  hill 
country.  Up  from  the  shore  of  the  sea  to  the 
quiet  of  the  hills.    These,  on  the  eastern  shore, 


rise  to  a  height  of  nearly  2,000  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  which  is  however  itself  depressed 
some  600  feet  below  the  level  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean.— The  Passover,  a  feast  of  the  Jews, 
was  uigh.  This  affords  both  a  note  of  time 
and  an  explanation  of  the  multitude  present. 
The  month  was  Ni:«an  (our  March).  The  grass 
was  green  ;  the  trees  were  in  full  leaf  ;  the  palm 
trees  were  laden  with  blossoms ;  the  orange  and 
lemon  trees  with  fruit ;  the  barley  was  ripening 
in  the  fields.  At  such  a  season  and  in  such  a 
climate,  to  spend  a  night  without  shelter  is  no 
hardship,  and  is  not  unusual.  The  leisure  of  the 
Oriental  is  partly  a  characteristic  of  the  people, 
partly  an  incident  of  a  climate  which  compels 
less  labor  than  ours.  The  fifteen  days  preceding 
the  Passover  were  largely  devoted  to  various 
preparations  for  it;  the  roads,  streets,  and 
bridges  were  repaired,  and  the  caravans  began 
to  move  toward  Jerusalem.  The  gathering  at 
such  a  time  of  a  congregation  of  5,000  men,  be- 
sides women  and  children,  attracted  by  the  fame 
of  such  a  prophet,  is  not  at  all  incredible.  The 
reader  must  also  remember  that  Galilee  was  then 
the  home  of  a  large  population.  According  to 
Josephus,  there  were  six  cities  of  considerable 
size  on  the  thirteen  miles  of  coast-line  along  the 
northern  and  northeastern  shores  of  the  Lake 
of  Tiberias. 

'  5,  6.  When  Jesus  then  lifted  up  his 
eyes.  According  to  Mark  the  people  going 
round  by  the  shore  outran  Jesus,  and  he  found 
them  there  upon  his  arrival  (Mark  6 :  ss).  There  is 
no  irreconcilable  inconsistency  in  the  two  state- 
ments. It  may  be  that  Jesus  found  a  few  of  his 
disciples,  those  that  knew  his  probable  destina- 
tion, and  took  them  up  with  him  and  the  twelve 
into  the  hiUs  ;  for  the  term  disciples  (ver.  s)  is  not 
in  the  Gospels  confined  to  the  twelve  apostles ; 
that  the  larger  multitude  followed,  looking  for 
the  Lord ;  and  that  their  gradual  congregating 
moved  his  compassion  (Mark  e :  34)  and  led  him  to 
descend  from  the  retirement  of  the  hills  to  teach 
and  to  heal  them. — He  saith  unto  Philip. 
He  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  day  in  teaching 

and  healing  (Matt.  14  :  14  ;   Mark  6:31;  Luke  9  :  ll).      The 

people,  absorbed  by  their  interest,  took  no  note 
of  the  passage  of  time.  As  the  afternoon  drew 
on,  the  disciples  proposed  to  Christ  to  send  the 

people    away  to   procure  food  (Matthew,  Mark,  Luke)  ; 

it  was  probably  as  a  result  of  this  proposition 


Ch.  VI.] 


JOHN. 


79 


7  Philip  answered  him,  Two=  hundred  pennyworth 
of  bread  is  not  sufficient  lor  them,  that  every  one  of 
them  may  take  a  little. 

8  One  of  his  disciples,  Andrew,  Simon  Peter's 
brother,  saith  unto  him. 


9  There  is  a  lad  here,  which  hath  five  barley  loaves, 
and  two  small  fishes :  but  what  are  they  among  so  many  ? 

10  And  Jesus  said,  Make  the  men  sit  down.  Now 
there  was  much  grass  in  the  place.  So  the  men  sat 
down,  in  number  about  five  thousand. 


Numb.  11  :  21,  22  ;  2  Kings  4  :  43. 


that  Christ  addressed  to  Philip  the  question 
here,  Whence  shall  we  buy  ?  This  question  is 
reported  alone  by  John,  Why  did  Jesus  address 
this  inquiry  to  Philip  ?  Some  commentators  have 
supposed  that  he  was  the  purveyor  for  Christ 
and  the  apostles  ;  others  that  his  faith  was  espe- 
cially weak  and  needed  strengthening ;  still 
others  that  the  question  was  addressed  to  him 
because  he  belonged  to  Bethsaida  (ch.  i  :  44),  and 
therefore  would  be  the  one  to  know  where  food 
could  be  procured  ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  to 
support  either  hypothesis.  Christ  frequently 
questioned  his  disciples  in  order  to  bring  out  to 
their  own  consciousness  the  measure  of  their 

faith  (Matt.  9  :  28  :    16  :  13  ;   19  :  17  ;   Luke  24  :  17,  etc.). — For 

he  himself  knew  what  he  would  do.    A 

statement  made  by  the  apostle  to  emphasize  the 
truth  that  Jesus  himself  was  not  in  perplexity, 
and  taking  counsel  with  his  apostles  for  his  own 
guidance.  This  he  is  never  recorded  to  have 
done.  According  to  Matthew  the  question  of 
providing  for  the  multitude  was  not  raised  until 
"it  was  evening"  (Matt,  u:  is).  Yet  both  Matthew 
and  John  say  that  "when  evening  was  come" 
Jesus  was  left  alone  in  the  mountain  (ver.  le ;  Matt. 
14  :  23).  The  explanation  of  this  discrepancy  lies 
in  the  fact  that  there  were  two  evenings  recog- 
nized by  the  Hebrews,  as  by  the  Greeks,  one  be- 
ginning with  the  declining  sun  at  or  about  three 
in  the  afternoon,  the  other  with  the  setting  sun. 
It  was  during  the  first  evening,  i.  e.,  between 
three  and  six,  that  the  people  were  fed ;  at  the 
second  evening,  i.  e.,  about  sunset,  they  had  de- 
parted and  left  Jesus  alone. 

7-9.  Two  hundred  pennyworth  of  bread. 
The  penny,  or  denarius,  was  equal  in  value  to 
seventeen  cents  American  coin ;  but  it  was  the 
day's  wages  of  a  common  laborer  (Matt.  20 :  2) ; 
two  hundred  pennyworth  therefore  would  be 
practically  equivalent  to  $200  worth  in  our  time. 
— One  of  his  disciples  said  unto  him. 
Christ  bade  them  ascertain  how  much  they  had 
on  hand  for  themselves  (Mark  s :  ss).  Andrew  as- 
certained and  reported  in  response  to  Christ's 
direction.  The  lad  here  mentioned  was  there- 
fore probably  some  one  in  attendance  upon 
Christ  and  the  twelve,  and  carrying  their  simple 
store  for  them.  How  much  blessing  the  Lord 
can  impart  to  the  service  of  a  little  child.  Comp, 
2  Kings  .5  :  2,  3.  Here  a  little  boy  (TTinduoKiy)  had 
but  five  loaves,  and  they  of  barley,  and  yet  when 
given  to  the  Lord,  and  blessed  by  Him,  they 
feed  five  thousand. — Five  barley  loaves.   The 


loaves  of  the  Jews  were  thin  round  cakes  or 
crackers ;  for  illustration  and  description,  see 
Mark  8  :  3-5,  note.  Barley  was  the  food  only  of 
the  lower  classes.  "One  in  the  Talmud,  speak- 
ing of  barley  bread,  says,  'There  is  a  fine  crop 
of  barley.'  Another  answers,  '  Tell  this  to  the 
horses  and  asses.'  A  Roman  soldier  who  had 
quitted  his  ranks,  had  for  part  of  his  punishment 
that  he  received  barley  bread  instead  of  wheat- 
en." — {Geike's  Life  of  Chnst.)  Thus  we  have 
here  (1)  an  indication  of  the  simplicity  of  the 
living  of  our  Lord  ;  without  a  place  to  lay  his 
head,  i.  e.,  a  permanent  home,  and  with  the 
plainest  possible  food  for  his  fare,  the  bread  of 
the  peasant  classes  ;  (2)  a  suggestion  of  true  be- 
nevolence ;  he  did  not  create  wheaten  bread  for 
the  multitude ;  he  gave  such  as  he  had.  To 
share  what  we  have,  not  to  aspire  to  give  what 
we  have  not,  is  true  benevolence. — And  two 
small  fishes.  The  word  here  rendered  small 
fishes  (oipuQioi)  denotes  any  relish  eaten  with 
bread  ;  hence,  because  fish  was  a  common  accom- 
paniment, the  most  common  from  the  animal 
kingdom,  it  came  to  be  used  for  fish,  generally 
salt  fish,  prepared  for  and  used  as  a  relish. 

10,  11.  Make  the  men  sit  down.  It  re- 
quires little  imagination  to  picture  to  the  mind 
the  wondering  surprise  with  which  the  disciples 
prepared  to  obey  a  direction  the  object  of  which 
they  could  not  conceive,  and  the  perplexity  of 
the  people  as  they  prepared  to  take  their  places, 
wondering  what  was  to  occur  next.  They  sat 
down ;  Mark  tells  us  in  ranks,  literally  garden 
plats  (TTouaud  TtQaaiul;  the  repetition  without 
zai  denotes  distribution).  With  their  bright- 
colored  Oriental  dresses,  these  men  sitting  cross- 
legged  on  the  ground  in  groups  of  fifty  each 
(Mark  6 :  4o\  SO  that  their  number  was  afterward 
easily  estimated,  presented  an  appearance  which 
recalled  a  brilliant  garden  in  the  early  summer. 
The  picture  thus  presented  by  Mark,  but  lost  in 
our  English  translation,  is  one  of  the  pictorial 
characteristics  of  his  Gospel,  and  is  thought  to 
have  been  derived  by  him  from  Peter,  the 
most  effective  and  therefore  probably  the  most 
pictorial  of  all  the  apostolic  preachers. — There 
Avas  much  grass  in  the  place.  This  is  not 
inconsistent  with  its  description  by  the  other 
Evangelists  as  a  desei-t  place,  the  word  desert 
implying  simply  solitude,  not  an  arid  soil.  The 
location  {Tfiompson'' s  Land  and  Book,  Vol.  II,  p. 
29)  was  probably  the  rich  level  plain  of  Butaiha, 
forming  a  triangle,  of  which  the  Eastern  moun- 


80 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VL 


11  And  Jesus  took  the  loaves :  and  when  he  had 
given  thanks,  he  distributed  to  the  disciples,  and  the 
discijiles  to  them  that  were  set  down  ;  and  likewise  of 
the  fishes  as  much  as  they  would. 

12  When  they  were  tilled,''  he  said  unto  his  disciples, 
Gather  up  the  fragments  that  remain,  that  nothing  ''  be 
los\ 

13  Therefore  they  gathered  them  together,  and  filled 
twelve  baskets  with  the  fragments  of  the  five  barley 


loaves,  which  remained  over  and  above  unto  them  that 
had  eaten. 

14  Then  those  men,  when  they  had  seen  the  miracle 
that  Jesus  did,  said.  This  is  of  a  truth  that  f  prophet  that 
should  come  into  the  world. 

15  When  Jesus  therefore  perceived  that  they  would 
come  and  take  him  by  force,  to  make  him  a  king,  he 
departed  again  into  a  mountain  himself  alone. 


d  Neh.  9  :  25 e  Neh.  8  :  10 f  Geu.  49  :  10  ;  Deut.  18  :  15-18. 


tains  make  one  side  and  the  lake  shore  and  the 
Jordan  the  other  two.  It  was  at  the  southeast- 
ern angle  of  this  plain,  near  the  point  where  the 
hills  abut  upon  the  lake,  that  the  feeding  took 
place.  "From  the  four  narratives  of  this  stu- 
pendous miracle  we  gather :  1st,  that  the  place 
belonged  to  Bethsaida ;  3d,  that  it  was  a  desert 
place  ;  3d,  that  it  was  near  the  shore  of  the  lake, 
for  they  came  to  it  by  boats  ;  4th,  that  there  was 
a  mountain  close  at  hand ;  5th,  that  it  was  a 
smooth,  grassy  spot,  capable  of  seating  many 
thousand  people.  Now  all  these  requisites  are 
found  in  this  exact  locality,  and  nowhere  else,  so 
far  as  I  can  discover.  This  Butaiha  belonged  to 
Bethsaida.  At  this  extreme  southeast  comer  of 
it  the  mountain  shuts  down  upon  the  lake,  bleak 
and  barren.  It  was,  doubtless,  desert  then  as 
now,  for  it  is  not  capable  of  cultivation.  In  this 
little  cove  the  ships  (boats)  were  anchored.  On 
this  beautiful  sward,  at  the  base  of  the  rocky 
hill,  the  people  were  seated."  —  {Andrews.)  — 
About  five  thousand.  Besides  women  and 
children  (iiatt.  14  :  21),  who  perhaps  sat  separately 
from  the  men,  as  Oriental  custom  would  require 
them  to  do. — When  he  had  given  thanks. 
The  same  act  is  differently  expressed  by  the 
other  Evangelists  as  blessing  the  bread.  Asking 
a  blessing  upon  food  before  meals  was  a  univer- 
sal custom  among  the  Jews,  and  was  practised 
both  by  Christ  and  by  the  apostles  (Luke  22 :  n,  19 ; 
24  :  30;  Acts  27 :  So). — He  gave  [to  the  disciples 
and  the  disciples]  to  them  that  Avere  set 
down.  The  words  which  I  have  put  in  brackets 
are  not  in  the  original  according  to  the  best  man- 
uscripts. They  have  been  added  from  Matt. 
14  :  19.  They  undoubtedly  represent  the  actual 
fact,  viz.,  that  the  bread  was  distributed  by  the 
hands  of  the  twelve. 

12-15.  Gather  up  the  fragments  that 
remain,  that  nothing  be  lost.  "It  was  a 
custom  and  a  rule  (among  the  Jews)  that  when 
they  ate  together  they  should  leave  something 
to  those  that  served.  '  Every  one  leaves  a  little 
portion  in  the  dish,  which  is  called  the  servitor's 
part.'" — {Ligkffoot.)  The  fragments  thus  gath- 
ered up  by  the  apostles  were  probably  preserved 
for  their  own  use.  The  practical  lesson  is  im- 
portant :  "He  likewise  exhorts  his  disciples  to  fru- 
gality when  he  says,  '  Gather  the  fragments  which 
are  left,  that  nothing  be  lost ' ;  for  the  increase 


of  the  bounty  of  God  ought  not  to  be  an  excite- 
ment to  luxury.  Let  those  therefore  who  have 
abundance  remember  that  they  will  one  day  ren- 
der an  account  of  their  immoderate  wealth,  if 
they  do  not  carefully  and  faithfully  apply  their 
superfluity  to  purposes  which  are  good,  and  of 
which  God  approves." — {Calvin.)  This  gather- 
ing up  of  the  fragments  demonstrates  also  the 
reality  of  the  miracle.  See  below. — They  filled 
twelve  baskets  {xofhoc).  These  baskets  were 
the  common  baskets  used  universally  by  the 
Jews  in  traveling  to  carry  their  food.  See  for 
description  and  illustration.  Matt.  10  : 9, 10,  note. 
Christ  there  distinguishes  between  this  miracle 
and  that  of  the  feeding  of  the  4,000,  which  are  evi- 
dently not  to  be  confounded  as  one  event. — That 
prophet  that  should  come  into  the  world. 
Foretold  in  Deut.  IS  :  15,  16,  and  referred  to  by 
the  delegation  sent  from  Jerusalem  to  inquire  of 
John  the  Baptist  as  to  his  character  and  author- 
ity (John  1 :  2i).  By  somc  Rabbis  this  prophet  was 
regarded  as  a  forerunner  of  the  Messiah ;  by 
others  as  the  Messiah  himself.  Here  apparently 
the  pc  ople  regarded  the  two  as  identical ;  this  at 
least  is  indicated  by  their  desire  to  take  Christ  at 
once  and  crown  him  as  king. — Jesus  knowing 
that  they  Avere  about  to  come  and  seize 
him  that  they  might  make  him  king. 
Either  by  reading  in  their  hearts  the  half-formed 
design  ;  or  perceiving  it  in  their  whispered  con- 
ference ;  or  informed  of  it  by  the  apostles,  who 
doubtless  shared  the  enthusiasm  of  the  multi- 
tude, and  who  may  have  been  as  eager  as  any  for 
the  coronation  of  their  Lord.  This  attempt  of 
the  people  to  make  Christ  a  temporal  king  was 
a  renewal  of  Satan's  endeavor  to  tempt  him  to 
secure  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  by  Satanic 
methods  (Matt.  4 : 8-10,  note).  The  Jews  anticipated 
a  realm  of  material  marvels  and  miracles  with 
the  advent  of  the  Messiah.  "Drought  and  fam- 
ine should  then  be  known  no  more.  The  pro- 
phecy of  Isaiah  (isa.  65 :  13), '  My  servants  shall  eat, 
but  ye  shall  be  hungry, '  should  be  literally  ful- 
filled. Israel  should  be  gathered  together.  The 
young  men  should  feed  on  bread,  the  old  men  on 
honey,  the  children  on  oil.  Every  palate  should 
be  pleased,  every  appetite  satisfied,  and  the  pro- 
lific profusion  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  should  re- 
peat itself  in  the  land  of  the  Messiah.  These 
prophecies  of  the  scribes,  with  which  constant 


Ch.  VI.] 


JOHK 


81 


repetition  in  the  synagogue  had  made  the  com- 
mon people  familiar,  seemed  to  them  about  to  be 
fulfilled." — (AbbotPs  Je^us of  X<.izareth.) — He  de- 
parted again  into  the  mountain.  For  soli- 
tude and  prayer  (Matt.  14  :  23  ;  Mark  6  :  46).  He  first 
constrained  his  disciples  to  embark  for  Bethsai- 
da,  a  fact  which  Matthew  and  Mark  state  (Matt. 
14  :  22;  Mark  6 :  45J  without  giving  the  reasou  for 
it ;  John  alone  tells  of  the  purpose  of  the  mul- 
titude to  make  Christ  a  king.  There  is  signifi- 
cance for  us  in  Christ's  refusal  of  their  homage. 
They  desired  to  make  him  king,  not  to  accept 
him  as  king ;  to  give  him  a  sceptre,  not  to  own 
allegiance  to  the  sceptre  he  possessed ;  to  secure 
his  power  and  authority  in  aid  of  their  designs, 
not  to  recognize  his  royal  authority  and  be  obe- 
dient to  his  will.  When  they  found  out  what 
that  will  involved,  from  his  discourse  on  the 
following  Sabbath  at  Capernaum,  they  would 
have  him  for  their  king  no  longer.  It  is  one 
thing  to  attempt  to  make  Christ  serve  our  wills  ; 
it  is  a  very  different  thing  to  make  our  wills  obe- 
dient to  his. 

Various  attempts  have  been  made  to  explain 
this  miracle  on  rationalistic  principles.  The  two 
principal  explanations  offered  are :  (1 )  that  the 
people  were  so  satisfied  with  Christ's  instruction 
that  they  did  not  feel  the  claims  of  hunger 
(Schenkel) ;  (3)  that  they  had  their  hearts  opened 
by  the  beneficence  of  Christ,  so  that  those  w"ho 
possessed  food  themselves  provided  for  those 
that  had  none,  and  thus  all  were  furnished  by  a 
miracle  of  love,  operating  not  by  the  literal  crea- 
tion of  new  supplies,  but  by  the  inspiration  of  a 
new  spirit  of  benevolence  in  the  people  them- 
selves. This,  if  I  understand  him  aright,  is 
Lange's  explanation.  See  his  Life  of  Christ,  Vol. 
II,  p.  liO.  For  a  more  elaborate  classification  of 
rationalistic  theories,  see  Lange^s  Commentary  on 
3Iitthew,  Am.  ed.,  p.  266.  Neither  interpretation 
deserves  serious  refutation.  The  first  is  incon- 
sistent with  the  fact  that  twelve  baskets  of  the 
fragments  were  gathered  up  after  the  meal  was 
ended ;  the  second  is  contradicted  by  the  lan- 
guage of  the  disciples,  who  plainly  imply  that 

the  people  are  without  food  (Matt.  U  :  Ij  ;  Mark  G  :  36  ; 

Luke  9 :  li),  and  by  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people 
after  the  miracle  has  been  performed.  They 
were  not  of  a  kind  to  be  ready  to  crown  a  prophet 
as  king,  merely  because  he  had  opened  their 
hearts  and  inclined  them  to  benevolence.  It  is, 
however,  to  be  noted  that  here  as  elsewhere  the 
Evangelists  simply  state  the  facts,  leaving  the 
reader  to  make  his  own  deductions.  These  facts 
are  that  over  5,000  people  were  upon  a  plain, 
without  provisions ;  that  all  the  food  which 
Christ  had  for  them  was  five  loaves  and  two 
small  fishes ;  that  he  distributed  this  to  the 
twelve,  and  they  to  the  multitude  ;  that  air  had 
enough ;  and  that  when  the  meal  was  over  there 


were  twelve  baskets  full  of  fragments  remaining. 
Assuming  these  to  be  the  facts,  the  explanation 
of  a  miraculous  creation  of  bread  is  the  only  rea- 
sonable explanation ;  any  other  hypothesis  im- 
pugns the  historical  verity  of  the  four  Gospels. 
The  attempt  to  explain  the  miracle  as  an  accel- 
eration of  the  processes  of  nature  {Olshausen),  to 
which,  as  Dr.  Schalf  well  says,  "must  be  added 
an  accelerated  process  of  art,  or  the  combined 
labors  of  the  reaper,  miller,  and  baker,"  gives  no 
help  in  understanding  the  process  by  which 
Christ  provided  for  all.  We  can  accept  the  fact 
without  comprehending  the  method,  which  is 
indeed  as  entirely  incomprehensible  as  are  God's 
methods  in  the  ordinary  phenomena  of  nature, 
e.  g.,  the  multiplication  of  a  single  kernel  of  corn 
into  the  many  kernels  upon  the  stalk.  The  par- 
allel and  contrast  between  this  miracle  and  the 
analogous  but  different  multiplication  of  food 
wrought  by  the  O.  T.  prophets  Elijah  and  Elisha 

(l  Kings  17  :  16;   2  Kings  4  :  42-14)  are   iUStrUCtiVC.      Like 

all  of  Christ's  miracles,  this  multiplication  is  a 
parable.  (1)  It  illustrates  Christ's  method:  the 
way  to  men's  hearts  is  often  through  minister- 
ing to  their  bodies  ;  in  the  recent  famines  in  India 
and  China  (1877),  the  missionaries  have  found  the 
way  opened  for  the  gospel  in  many  districts  by 
their  ability  to  provide  the  starving  with  food  or 
employment.  (3)  It  manifests  the  miraculous 
grace  of  God  :  "everything  wastes  in  the  hands 
of  men  ;  but  everything  multiplies  in  those  of 
the  Son  of  God." — {Qncsiiel.)  (3.)  It  rebukes  dis- 
trust:  "He  who  feeds  here  five  thousand  men 
in  an  extraordinary  manner  and  by  a  visible  mir- 
acle, cannot  He  find  means  to  support  this  nu- 
merous famil}',  which  raises  in  the  mind  of  this 
father  and  mother  so  many  unceasing  and  dis- 
trustful thoughts?" — (Quesnel.)  (4)  It  is  an 
inspiration  and  a  prophecy  of  Christian  love.  It 
is  "the  brilliant  inauguration  of  that  fruitful 
miracle  of  Christian  charity  which  has  ever  since 
gone  on,  multiplying  bread  to  the  hungry.  The 
heart  of  man  once  touched,  like  the  rock  in  the 
desert  touched  by  the  rod  of  Moses,  has  gone  on 
pouring  over  thirsty  crowds  the  inexhaustible 
stream  of  generositj'. " — (Pressense.)  (b)  It  is  a 
symbol  of  the  inexhaustible  love  of  Christ  him- 
self ;  a  symbol  of  that  miraculous  multiplying  of 
sacred  influences  which,  from  one  brief  life  of 
three  active  years,  and  one  body  pierced  and 
broken  on  the  tree,  feeds  innumerable  thousands, 
a  love  wiiich  Christ  imparts  to  his  disciples,  and 
which  they  in  turn  convey  throughont  the  ages 
and  to  all  lands. 

Ch.  6  ;  16-21.    JESUS  WALKS  OX  THE  SEA.-Chkist 

THE  LOBD  OF  NATURE  :  LIGHT  IN  OCR  DARKNESS  ; 
PEACE  IN  OUR  STORMS. — He  COMES  TO  THOSE  WHO  ARE 
TOILrNG  TO  COME    TO  HIM. — HiS    MESSAGE    TO  ALL  HIS 

DISCIPLES :  Fear  not.— The  ground  of  that  mes- 
sage :    he  13  THE  I  AM. 


82 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VI. 


i6  And  s  when  even  was  now  come,  his  disciples 
went  down  unto  the  sea, 

17  And  entered  into  a  ship,  and  went  over  the  sea 
toward  Capernaum.  And  it  was  now  darli,  and  Jesus 
was  not  come  to  them. 

18  And  the  sea  arose  '^  by  reason  of  a  great  wind  that 
blew. 


19  So  when  they  had  rowed  about  five  and  twenty 
or  thirty  furlongs,  they  see  Jesus  walking  on  the  sea, 
and  drawing  nigh  unto  the  ship  :  and  they  were  afraid. 

20  But  he  saith  unto  them,  It  is  I  ;'  be  not  atraid. 

21  Then  they  willingly  received  iiim  into  the  ship; 
and  immediately  the  ship  was  at  the  land  whither  they 
went. 


g  Matt.  14  :  23  ;  Mark  6  :  47,  etc h  Ps.  107  :  25 i  Ps.  35  :  3  ;  Isa.  43  :  1,  2  ;   Rev.  1:17,  18. 


Compare  Matt.  14  :  22,  23 ;  Mark  6  :  45-52,  and  see 
Prel.  Note  at  beginning  of  this  chapter. 

lG-18.  And  Avhen  even  was  come.  This 
was  the  second  evening,  which  began  at  sunset. 
See  on  ver.  6. — His  disciples  ivent  down  unto 
the  sea.  From  the  plain  where  the  five  thou- 
sand had  been  fed.  By  the  disciples  here  is 
meant  the  apostles.  They  went  reluctantly, 
yielding  to  Christ.  This  is  implied  by  the  lan- 
guage of  Matthew  and  Mark,  he  "constrained 
his  disciples."  While  they  departed  by  sea  Je- 
sus sent  the  multitude  away. — And  entered 
into  a  ship.  A  fishing-boat ;  large  enough  to 
carry  Christ  and  the  twelve  ;  not  too  large  to  be 
propelled  by  oars.  See  for  description,  Mark  6  : 
36,  note. — And  went  over  the  sea  unto  Ca- 
pernaum {ii-i  A'.).  Mark  says  toward  Bethsaida 
(noi'jg  i^.).  John  indicates  the  final  aim  of  their 
journey ;  Mark  the  direction  in  which  the  boat 
was  steered.  They  started  for  Capernaum  via 
Bethsaida.  See  Prel.  Note  above,  and  Mark  (5  : 
45,  note. — Jesus  was  not  come  to  them. 
An  evidence  that  they  expected  to  meet  him 
along  the  shore  ;  probably  (this  is  implied  upon 
a  comparison  of  the  three  gospel  narratives)  at 
Bethsaida,  i.  e.,  at  or  near  the  entrance  of  the 
Jordan  upon  the  lake. — The  sea  arose  by  rea- 
son of  a  great  wind  that  blew.  It  is  a  com- 
mon occurrence  for  the  winds  to  arise  suddenly 
upon  this  lake,  drawing  down  the  Jordan  valley 
from  the  Lebanon  range  in  the  north.  See  Mark 
4  :  37,  note.  "My  experience  in  this  region  ena- 
bles me  to  sympathize  with  the  disciples  in  their 
long  night's  contest  with  the  wind.  I  spent  a 
night  in  that  wady  Shukaiylf,  some  three  miles 
up  it,  to  the  left  of  us.  The  sun  had  scarcely 
set  when  the  wind  began  to  rush  down  toward 
the  lake,  and  it  continued  all  night  long  with 
constantly  increasing  violence,  so  that  when  we 
reached  the  shore  the  next  morning  the  face  of 
the  lake  was  like  a  huge  boiling  caldron.  The  wind 
howled  down  every  wady  from  the  northeast  and 
east  with  such  fury  that  no  efforts  of  rowers 
could  have  brought  a  boat  to  shore  at  any  point 
along  that  coast.  In  a  wind  like  that  the  disci- 
ples must  have  been  driven  quite  across  to  Gen- 
nesaret,  as  we  know  they  were.  To  understand 
the  causes  of  these  sudden  and  violent  tempests, 
we  must  remember  that  the  lake  lies  low — six 
hundred  feet  lower  than  the  ocean  ;  that  the 
vast  and  naked  plateaus  of  the  Jordan  rise  to  a 
great  height,  spreading  backward  to  the  wilds 


of  the  Hauran,  and  upward  to  snowy  Hermon  ; 
that  the  water-courses  have  cut  out  profound 
ravines  and  wild  gorges,  converging  to  the  head 
of  this  lake,  and  that  these  act  like  gigantic  fun- 
nels to  draw  down  the  cold  winds  from  the 
mountains. ' ' — ( Thom]ysoH''s  Land  and  Book,  2  :32.) 
Dr.  Thompson  adds  a  testimony  to  the  sudden- 
ness with  which  these  winds  arise  :  "I  once  went 
in  to  swim  near  the  hot  baths,  and  before  I  was 
aware  a  wind  came  rushing  over  the  cliffs  with 
such  force  that  it  was  with  great  difficulty  I 
could  regain  the  shore." 

19-21.  So  Avhen  they  had  rowed  about 
five-and-twenty  or  thirty  furlongs.  Sta- 
dia ;  that  is,  a  little  over  three  mUes.  The  lake 
at  this  point  is  about  six  miles  across  ;  they  had 
therefore  rowed  about  half  way  across  the  lake  ; 
but  they  were  unable  to  make  head  against  the 
wind,  and  could  not  reach  the  northern  shore  to 
keep  their  appointment  with  Jesus.  It  was  while 
they  were  endeavoring  to  come  to  Jesus  that  he  came 
out  upon  the  sea  to  meet  them. — They  see  Jesus 
Avalking  on  the  sea.  That  he  was  really 
walking  on  the  sea,  not  standing  on  the  land  and 
supposed  to  be  on  the  sea  because  only  dimly 
discerned  through  the  storm  and  darkness 
(Bleek),  is  evident  from  the  facts,  (1)  that  Peter 
went  out  to  meet  him  (Matt.  i4 :  28-31) ;  (3)  that  on 
receiving  him  into  the  ship  they  were  immediate- 
ly at  the  land  "unto  which  they  were  going" 
{eli  ijv  vnijyor).  This  was  the  plain  of  Gennesa- 
ret,  on  which  Capernaum  was  situated,  and  was 
two  or  three  miles  away  from  the  point  where 
they  met  Jesus  ;  for  they  had  as  yet  rowed  only 
about  half  the  distance  across  the  lake. — He 
saith  unto  them,  It  is  I.  Literally,  /  am. 
The  same  language  used  by  Jesus  in  Jerusalem 
(ch.  8 :  58),  for  which  the  Pharisees  would  have 
stoned  him,  and  in  the  O.  T.  to  designate  Jeho- 
vah (Exod.  3 :  14).  Here  I  should  prefer  to  give  it 
tills  meaning.  Christ  says  not  merely,  "It  is  I, 
your  Friend  and  Master  ;  "  he  says,  at  least  im- 
plies, It  is  the  "I  am"  who  is  coming  to  you, 
the  Almighty  One  who  rules  winds  and  waves, 
who  made  them,  and  whom  they  obey. — Be  not 
afraid .  This  is  the  message  of  Christ  to  his  people 
in  the  hour  of  his  advent  (Luite  2 :  10) ;  of  their  tem- 
pest experiences  of  temptation  and  struggle  (Matt. 

14  :  27  J  Mark  6  :  60  ;  1  Pet.  3  :  h)  ;  their  SOrrOWS  (Matt.  28  :  10; 

Mark  6 :  36) ;  and  their  hour  of  dangerous  duty  (Acta 
18 : 9). — Then  they  willingly  received  him. 

Literally,  Thereupon  they  willed  to  receive  him.    If 


Oh.  YL] 


JOHN. 


83 


this  account  stood  alone  we  might  perhaps 
doubt  whether  he  actually  did  enter  the  ship,  as 
some  rationalistic  commentators  have  done  ;  but 
Matthew  and  Mark  are  explicit  in  their  state- 
ments that  he  did  so. — And  imiiiediately  the 
ship  was  at  the  land  to  which  they  were 
going.  That  is,  the  shore  at  Capernaum.  This, 
coupled  with  the  statement  of  ver.  19  that  they 
had  only  rowed  twenty-five  or  thirty  furlongs,  L  e., 
about  half  way,  seems  clearly  to  imply  a  further 
miracle,  unless  indeed  we  give  to  the  word  imme- 
diaiely{tv9iu)i}a  large  latitude  of  expression,  un- 
derstanding it  merely  to  mean  that  since  the  wind 
at  once  ceased  (Matt,  u  -.  32)  they  had  no  further 
difficulty  in  reaching  their  destination.  Matthew 
adds  that  they  that  were  in  the  ship  came  and 
worshipped  Jesus,  saying,  "Of  a  truth  thou  art 
the  Son  of  God;"  and  Mark  that  they  were 
amazed  beyond  measure,  "for  they  considered 
not  the  miracle  of  the  loaves,  for  their  heart  was 
hardened,"  rather  dull,  stupid.  They  had  been 
amazed  at  the  miracle  of  the  loaves,  but  they 
had  not  deduced  from  it  the  natural  conclusion 
that  Christ  was  the  Lord  of  nature,  so  when  a 
new  manifestation  of  his  power  was  made  they 
were  as  much  surprised  as  if  they  had  never  seen 
any  previous  manifestation.  In  this  they  were 
very  typical  of  Christians  in  all  ages  of  the 
church. 

Ch.  6  :  22-71.  SERMON  ON  THE  BREAD  OF  LIFE.— 
The  condition  of  eternal  life  :  feeding  on 
■Christ.— The  true  nature  of  faith  symbolized. 
— The  meaning  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

Preliminart  Note. — Before  entering  upon  this 
discourse  in  detail,  some  preliminary  considera- 
tions are  necessary.  1.  The  report.  There  is  no  rea- 
son to  believe  that  we  have  a  verbatim  report  of 
Christ's  discourse,  but  good  reason  to  believe  the 
reverse.  John  makes  no  claim  to  give  the  sermon 
in  fuU.  The  language  of  ver.  59  implies  that  he 
does  not.  The  whole  sermon  occupies  in  delib- 
erate reading  less  than  five  minutes.  We  can 
hardly  suppose  that  an  actual  discourse  deliv- 
ered in  the  synagogue  would  have  been  com- 
pressed in  so  brief  a  space.  We  have  then, 
here,  John's  subsequent  report  written  oat  from 
memory,  though  from  memory  quickened  by 
divine  inspiration,  of  a  discourse  very  much 
longer  than  the  report.  It  embodies  in  John's 
language  the  substance  of  Christ's  thoughts. 
2.  The  circumstances  and  connection.  After 
the  feeding  of  the  5,000,  the  apostles  embark 
in  their  boat ;  Christ  goes  up  into  the  hills 
to  pray ;  the  people  linger  a  while  for  his  return, 
then  conclude  that  he  has  returned  to  Caper- 
naum, and  go  back  to  Capernaum  themselves  ; 
on  the  following  Sabbath  morning  he  enters  the 
■synagogue ;  their  astonishment  at  his  approach 
is  great ;  they  break  out  in  questioning.  How  did 


you  get  here  ?  His  answer  diverts  them  from 
mere  astonishment  to  a  serious  consideration  of 
spiritual  truth:  "Ye  are  seeking  me,  not  be- 
cause of  the  evidence  I  have  given  of  my  divine 
commission,  but  because  ye  did  eat  of  the  loaves 
and  were  filled.  Labor  not  for  the  meat  that 
perisheth,  but  for  that  meat  which  endureth 
unto  everlasting  life."  Their  response  indicates 
some  seriousness  of  desire  :  "What  is  the  work 
which  God  would  have  us  to  do  that  we  might 
have  this  bread  of  life  as  our  reward  ?  "  This  is 
the  question  of  all  religious  aspiration,  and 
Christ's  answer  is  the  response  of  Christianity  to 
the  soul-hunger  of  the  ages:  "This  is  the  work 
of  God,  that  ye  have  faith  in  him  whom  he  hath 
sent."  This  I  believe  to  be  the  text  of  the  ser- 
mon which  follows ;  it  gives  the  subject ;  it  is 
the  key  to  its  mysticism.  The  object  of  the  dis- 
course is  to  give  Christ's  definition  and  interpre- 
tation of  faith.  This  definition  appears  and  re- 
appears, first  in  metaphor,  then  in  interpretation : 
My  Father  is  giving  you  the  true  bread,  which 
is  coming  down  from  heaven.  I  am  the  bread  of 
life  ;  he  that  cometh  to  me  shall  never  hunger ; 
he  that  believeth  on  me  shall  never  thirst.  This 
coming  is  not  a  literal  physical  coming ;  it  is  a 
coming  of  the  spirit ;  a  coming  drawn  by  divine 
influence ;  a  coming  of  those  who  are  taught  of 
God.  To  thus  believe  in  me,  to  thus  eat  my 
flesh  and  drink  my  blood,  is  to  have  ever- 
lasting life ;  for  to  thus  eat  my  flesh  and 
drink  my  blood  is  to  dwell  in  me  and  have 
in  me  an  indwelling  life.  Finally,  to  guard 
his  followers  against  that  literalism  which  has 
since  converted  this  metaphor  into  a  stone  of 
stumbling  and  a  rock  of  offence,  Christ  adds  to 
his  discourse  the  decisive  words  of  ver.  63,  "It 
is  the  Spirit  that  quickeneth,  the  flesh  profiteth 
nothing ;  the  words  that  1  speak  unto  you,  they 
are  spirit  and  they  are  life."  3.  Meaning  of  the 
metaphor.  I  believe  then  that  the  key  to  the 
metaphors  of  this  sermon  is  to  be  found  in  the 
question  and  answer  of  verses  28,  29 ;  that  it  is 
Christ's  metaphorical  interpretation  of  the  dec- 
laration that  faith  is  a  condition  of  spiritual  life  ; 
that  it  is  mystical,  because  experience  is  always 
mystical  except  to  those  that  know  it  experi- 
mentally ;  that  it  is  expressed  in  metaphor,  be- 
cause a  spiritual  experience  can  never  be  ex- 
pressed in  any  other  way ;  and  that  Christ  has 
emphasized  the  importance  of  the  metaphor  by 
subsequently  making  it  a  permanent  symbol  in 
the  Lord's  Supper.  To  eat  his  flesh  and  drink  his 
blood  is  to  have  faith  in  him,  to  come  unto  him  ; 
to  partake  of  his  character  and  imbibe  his  spirit 
(verses  35,  40, 47, 54, 67).  Faith,  accordiug  to  Christ, 
is  not  then  merely  believing  what  is  revealed  in 
the  Word  (Westminster  Confession);  nor  merely 
receiving  what  God  says  to  be  true  and  resting 
on  it  ( George  Muller) ;   it  is  feeding  on  Christ. 


84 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VI. 


22  The  day  following,  when  the  people  which  stood 
on  the  other  side  of  the  sea  saw  that  there  was  none 
other  boat  there,  save  that  one  whereinto  his  disciples 
were  entered,  and  that  Jesus  went  not  with  his  disci- 
ples into  the  boat,  but  that  his  disciples  were  gone 
away  alone ; 


23  (Howbeit  there  came  other  boats  from  Tiberias, 
nigh  unto  the  J  place  where  they  did  eat  bread,  alter 
that  the  Lord  had  given  thanks  ;) 

24  When  the  people  therefore  saw  that  Jesus  was  not 
there,  neither  his  disciples,  they  also  took  shipping, 
and  came  to  Capernaum,  seeking  for  Jesus. 


j  verse  11. 


It  is  intei-preted  (a)  by  the  physical  phenomenon 
of  eating  and  drinking.  The  food  enters  into  us, 
becomes  a  part  of  us  ;  builds  us  up ;  makes  us 
what  we  are ;  diilerent  food  going  to  different 
parts  of  the  body — some  to  brain,  others  to  mus- 
cle, etc.  ;  diflEerent  natures  and  different  avoca- 
tions needing  different  food.  It  is  Christ  in  us 
who  is  the  hope  of  glory.  (&)  By  our  own  use  of 
the  same  metaphor.  We  recognize  in  common 
language  a  higher  than  mere  physical  feeding ; 
other  gateways  to  the  nature  than  the  mouth 
and  the  stomach ;  other  means  that  modify,  de- 
velop, and  make  the  character.  Men  are  made 
by  what  they  receive  through  interior  faculties. 
So  Christ's  metaphor  constantly  reappears  in  the 
language  of  our  common  life ;  we  drink  in  a  pic- 
ture ;  imbibe  ideas ;  devour  books  ;  e.  $r., 

"  My  ears  have  not  yet  drunk  a  hundred  words 
Of  that  tongue's  ■a.VXffcm^.''''— {Shakespeare^ 

"  Longing  they  look,  and  gaping  at  the  sight. 
Devour  her  o'er  and  o"erwith  vast  delight." 

—{Bryden^ 
(c)  By  the  Rabbinical  use  of  the  metaphor,  com- 
mon in  Christ's  time,  and  well  understood  by  the 
Jews.  "There  is  nothing  more  common  in  the 
schools  of  the  Jews  than  the  phrases  of  eating 
and  drinking  in  a  metaphorical  sense." — {Light- 
foot.)  "To  eat  of  ray  bread"  was  a  j^hrase 
equivalent  to  partake  of  my  doctrine.  Christ 
borrows  a  common  metaphor  to  emphasize  a 
deeper  truth  ;  to  have  faith  in  him  is  not  to  "eat 
of  my  bread,"  but  to  "eat  of  my  flesh;"  that 
is,  it  is  to  receive  not  merely  the  influence  of 
Christ's  teaching,  but  yet  more  that  of  his  life 
and  character  itself,  an  influence  which  could  be 
imparted  to  the  world  only  through  his  passion 
and  death,  through  the  literal  rending  of  his  flesh 
and  shedding  of  his  blood,  {d)  By  the  experi- 
ence of  faith  in  a  lower  sphere,  our  faith  in  each 
other.  The  highest  faith  of  a  child  in  his  mother 
is  not  believing  something  about  her,  nor  merely 
believing  what  she  says ;  it  includes  an  intellec- 
tual belief  that  she  is  his  mother,  and  a  filial 
trust  in  her,  but  it  also  includes  such  a  reverence 
for  her,  an  uplooking  to  her,  an  admiration  of 
her,  a  feeding  upon  her,  that  all  her  best  charac- 
teristics are  reproduced  in  the  worshipping  child. 
So  the  character  of  the  best  teachers  ever  re- 
produces itself  in  the  character  of  their  admiring 
pupils,  (e)  By  the  actual  record  of  the  experi- 
ence of  faith  contained  in  the  O.  T.  and  the  N.  T. 

(e.  g.,  Pe.  42  :  5,   11  ;   63  :  5-8;   73  :  S3-26 ;   2  Cor.   3  :  18  ;   Gal. 


2 :  20 ;  Phil.  3 : 8-14).  (/)  By  Other  mctaphors  in  the 
N.  T.  in  which  Christ  is  compared  to  a  way  on 
which  we  walk,  a  garment  which  we  are  to  put 
on,  a  vine  on  which  we  are  to  be  engrafted,  a 
husband  to  whom  we  are  to  be  married,  a  head 
from  which  we  as  a  body  are  to  derive  all  our 
Ufe,  the  ground  in  which  we  are  to  be  rooted, 
the  foundation  on  which  we  are  to  be  built,  and 
the  Spirit  which  is  to  dwell  in  us  as  in  a  temple. 
Faith  in  Christ  then,  as  defined  by  Christ  himself, 
if  I  have  rightly  interpreted  this  discourse,  is  not 
belief  about  Mm.,  nor  trust  in  him,  but  appropriation 
of  Mm.  It  is  not  mere  belief  in  what  the  Bible 
teaches  respecting  him,  though  it  is  certainly 
founded  on  historical  Christianity ;  it  is  not  mere 
trust  in  his  word  or  power  or  grace,  though  it  in- 
volves the  highest  personal  trust  in  him  as  a  divine 
and  gracious  Saviour.  It  is  making  him  the  soul's 
spiritual  aliment,  foUo^ving  after  him,  coming  to 
him,  dwelling  in  him,  so  drinking  in  his  words, 
Ufe,  and  spirit  as  to  be  conformed  to  his  image. 
The  soul  enters  into  eternal,  that  is  spiritual  life, 
not  by  believing  any  teaching  respecting  Christ, 
not  by  trusting  that  Christ  will  bestow  that  life, 
but  by  so  fastening  its  love  and  aspirations  and 
desires  upon  Christ  that  he  becomes  the  All  and 
in  all  to  the  soul,  and  at  once  the  model  for  and 
modeler  of  its  future  and  final  character. 

22-24.  The  day  following,  etc.  A  part 
of  the  people  undoubtedly  had  dispersed  to  the 
villages  about ;  others  of  them  remained,  hoping 
for  the  reappearance  of  Jesus ;  when  he  did  not 
reappear  they  thought  it  possible  that  he  had  re- 
turned to  Capernaum,  and  went  thither  them- 
selves. The  other  side  of  the  sea  indicates  the  east- 
ern shore,  i.  e.,  the  opposite  side  from  Capernavim. 
In  ver.  25  the  same  phrase  indicates  the  western 
shore,  i.  e.,  the  opiDOsite  side  from  that  on  which 
the  multitude  had  left  Christ.  The  construction 
of  these  verses  is  complicated  and  involved,  but 
the  original  is  fairly  well  rendered  in  our  English 
version.  The  facts  here  stated,  together  with 
the  surprise  of  tHe  people  (ver.  25)  at  Christ's  ap- 
pearance at  Capernaum,  afford  an  additional 
though  incidental  evidence  of  Christ's  miracu- 
lous passing  from  the  eastern  to  the  western 
shore. — Tiberias.  A  town  on  the  southwestern 
shore  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee ;  mentioned  in  the 
N.  T.  only  by  John ;  built  by  Herod  Antipas,  and 
named  in  honor  of  the  emperor  Tiberius.  The 
present  city,  Tubanyeh,  contains  about  two 
thousand  inhabitants. 


€h.  VI.] 


JOHN. 


85 


25  And  when  they  had  found  him  on  the  other  side 
of  the  sea,  tliey  said  unto  him,  Rabbi,  when  earnest 
ihou  hither? 

26  Jesus  answered  them  and  said,  Verily,  verily,  I 
say  unto  you,  Ye  seek  me,  not  because  ye  saw  the 


miracles,  but  because  ye  did  eat  of  the  loaves,  and 
were  tilled. 

27  Labour  not  for  the  meat  which  perisheth,  but  for 
that  ^  meat  which  endureth  unto  everlasting  life,  which 
the  Son  of  man  shall  give  unto  you  :  for  him  '  hath  God 
the  Father  sealed. 


k  verses  54,  53 ;  ch.  4  :  14 ;  Jer.  15:16 1  ch.  8  :  18 ;  Ps.  2  :  7  j  40  :  7 ;  laa,  42  :  1 ;  Acta  2  :  22 ;  2  Pet.  1  :  17. 


25.    And  when    they  had   found    him. 

The  greater  part  of  the  discourse  which  follows 
was  apparently  delivered  in  the  synagogue  (ver. 
29),  and  presumptively  on  the  Sabbath  day. 
Maurice  supposes  that  "the  conversation  com- 
mences on  the  borders  of  the  lake  of  Tiberias, 
■with  the  people  who  had  just  crossed  and  found 
Jesus  there,"  and  is  afterward  continued  in  the 
synagogue,  and  he  makes  the  synagogue  dis- 
course commence  with  ver.  43.  This  is  certainly 
possible,  though  I  should  think  it  more  probable, 
from  the  close  connection  between  the  beginning 
and  close  of  the  colloquy  as  reported,  that  all 
occurred  at  one  time  and  in  the  synagogue.  It 
is  not  at  all  incredible  that  such  interruptions  as 
are  here  reported  should  have  occurred  in  the 
synagogue  service.  —  Rabbi,  when  earnest 
thou  thither?  "The  question  irhen  includes 
how.-' — (Bengel.)  Wordsworth's  comment  on  the 
mysterious  manner  in  which  Christ  crossed  the 
sea  and  presented  himself  in  the  S3Tiagogue  af- 
fords a  curious  illustration  of  the  allegorizing 
method  which  he  pursues  throughout  in  dealing 
with  this  chapter.  "By  walking  on  the  sea,  in- 
visibly to  the  eyes  of  the  multitude,  and  sudden- 
ly presenting  himself  to  them  in  the  synagogue 
at  Capernaum,  in  a  manner  unintelligible  to 
them,  he  instructs  us  that,  though  he  does  in- 


deed come  by  water  in  holy  baptism,  and  is 
verily  and  indeed  present  in  the  holy  eucharist, 
3-et  the  manner  of  his  presence  is  not  to  be  scru- 
tinized by  us.  *  *  *  *  Let  us  not  speculate 
inquisitively  into  the  time  and  manner  in  which 
he  is  present  in  the  holy  eucharist,  but  let  us 
receive  him  joyfully  in  our  hearts,  as  the  disci- 
ples received  him  into  the  ship  ;  and  then  we 
shall  soon  be  at  the  haven  of  peace  where  we 
would  be." 

26,  27.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you. 
See  Matt.  .5  :  18,  note. — Ye  seek  me,  not  be- 
cause ye  saw  the  signs,  but  because  ye  ate 
of  the  loaves  and  were  satisfied.  Christ 
leads  the  people  from  the  lower  to  the  higher, 
from  the  earthly  to  the  spiritual,  making,  as  w^as 
his  wont,  a  simple  incident  the  text  of  a  deeply 
spiritual  discourse.  See  Matt.  11 :  7 ;  16  : 6  ;  Luke 
1.3  : 1 ;  11:  :  7  ;  John  4  :  10.  The  meaning  here  is 
this  :  You  are  not  seeking  me  because  you  have 
seen  and  recognized  the  evidences  of  my  divine 
commission,  and  really  desire  to  put  yourselves 
under  me  as  your  Lord  and  Master  ;  you  are  seek- 
ing my  gifts,  and  because  you  have  eaten  and 
been  satisfied.  He  thus  characterizes  and  im- 
pliedly rebukes  those  who  seek  not  Christ  but 
Christ's,  because  they  want  not  him,  but  some- 
thing external  to  himself,  which  they  think  he 


86 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VI. 


28  Then  said  they  unto  him^  What  shall  we  do,  that 
we  might  work  the  works  of  God  ? 

29  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  This""  is  the 


work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  him  whom  he  hath 
sent. 
30  They  said  therefore  unto  him,  What  sign  "  shew- 


in  1  John  3  :  23  ....  n  Mati.  IS  :  38  ;  1  Cor.  1  :  22. 


can  give  them. — Busy  not  yourselves  about 
the  meat  Avhich  perishes.  It  is  not  literally 
true  that  we  are  not  to  labor  for  the  meat  that 

perishes   (Acts  is  :  3  ;    Eph.  4  :  28  ;    1  Thess.  4  :  10-12)  ;    it   iS 

true  that  the  meat  which  perishes  is  not  to  be 
the  object  of  our  life-work  (Matt.  5 :  24).  "If  any 
be  idle  and  gluttonous,  and  careth  for  luxury, 
that  man  worketh  for  the  meat  that  perisheth. 
So,  too,  if  a  man  by  his  labor  should  feed  Christ, 
and  give  him  drink,  and  clothe  him,  who  so 
senseless  and  mad  as  to  say  that  such  an  one  la- 
bors for  the  meat  which  perishetli,  when  there  is 
for  this  the  promise  of  the  kingdom  that  is  to 
come,  and  of  those  good  things  ?  This  meat  en- 
dureth  forever."  —  (Chrysostom.)  Comp.  with 
Christ's  language  here  Isa.  55  :  3,  to  which  per- 
haps he  refers,  and  John  4  :  13,  14,  where  an 
analogous  metaphor  is  used  to  enforce  the  same 
teaching. — But  about  the  meat  which 
abides  unto  everlasting  life.  Unto  (iie)  in- 
dicates the  purpose  for  which  it  remains,  namely, 
that  it  may  nourish  eternal  life,  i.  e.,  the  life 
which  continues  unto,  not  which  begins  in,  eter- 
nity ;  for  eternal  life  is  a  present  possession  (vers. 
47, 64).  This  food  abides  in  us.  Chaps.  5  :  38 ; 
6  :  56 ;  8  :  31 ;  15  :  4,  7 ;  1  John  2  :  6,  27 ;  4  :  12, 
15  ;  2  John  2  indicate  both  what  is  the  meat  and 
what  the  abiding  of  which  Christ  speaks. — 
Which  the  Son  of  man  shall  give  to  you. 
The  phrase  iSon  of  man  is  here,  as  everywhere  in 
Christ's  use  of  it,  equivalent  to  the  Messiah  (Matt. 
10 :  23,  note),  and  would  be  so  understood  by  his 
hearers.  This  food  of  the  spiritual  life  is  the  gift 
of  God  through  the  Messiah  (Rom.  s-.n;  6 :  23).  We 
might  well  wonder  that  Christ's  characterization 
of  it  here  as  a  gift  should  not  have  prevented  the 
question  of  the  multitude  in  the  following  verse, 
but  for  the  fact  that,  despite  the  explicit  teach- 
ing of  the  N.  T.  that  eternal  life  is  given,  even  the 
disciples  of  Christ  have  ever  been  seeking  to 
earn  it  as  wages  by  labor.  Christ  says  shall  give 
(future)  because  the  great  sacrifice  was  not  yet 
offered,  and  so  the  unspeakable  gift  (2  Cor.  9 :  15) 
was  not  yet  perfected. — For  Him  hath  God 
the  Father  sealed.  In  the  East  the  method 
of  authenticating  a  document  is  not,  as  with  us, 
by  a  signature,  but  by  the  impression  of  a  seal 

(1  Kings  21  :  8  ;   Esther  3:12;    8  :  8,  10  ;    Jcr.  32  :  lO).       The 

meaning  here  then  is  that  Jesus'  commission  as 
the  Messiah  of  God  is  authenticated  by  the  Fa- 
ther, by  the  works  given  him  to  do  (John  5 :  se). 

38.  What  can  we  do  that  we  may  Avork 
the  works  of  God?  Observe  can,  not  shall; 
subjunctive,  not  future.     The  works  of  God  are 


not  works  wrought  by  God,  but  works  pleasing 
to  God  (jer.  48 :  10;  1  Cor.  15 :  58).  The  meaning  is 
not.  What  are  the  works  of  God  which  we  shall 
do  ?  but,  What  can  we  do  in  order  that  we  may 
please  God  by  our  works  ?  This  is  the  question 
which  humanity  has  ever  been  asking,  repeated 
in  the  pilgrimages  and  the  self -mutilations  of  the  . 
Oriental  rehgions,  in  the  penances  and  appointed 
prayers  of  the  mediaeval  religions,  and  in  much 
of  the  so-called  Christian  activity  of  modern 
Protestantism.  This  was  the  question  which 
Loyola  asked  by  his  vigils,  and  to  which  Luther 
found  an  answer  when,  climbing  Pilate's  stair- 
case on  his  knees,  he  heard  the  words,  "The 
just  shall  live  by  faith,"  and  fled  from  the  reli- 
gion of  works  to  that  of  faith.  That  the  ques- 
tioners of  Christ  were  seeking,  not  guidance  to 
devout  activity,  but  to  divine  rewards,  is  clear 
from  the  sequel  (ver.  31). 

29.  This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye 
have  faith  in  him  Avhom  he  hath  sent. 
They  ask  respecting  the  works  of  God  (plural), 
he  replies  concerning  the  work  of  God  (singular) ; 
they  ask  what  they  shall  do,  he  replies  have  faith; 
they  ask  respecting  work  to  be  done  for  God  hy 
them,  he  replies  that  it  is  a  work  of  God  in  them 
that  is  required.  The  condition  of  eternal  life  is 
not  doing  any  work  for  God,  it  is  having  a  work 
of  God  done  in  ourselves.  See  John  3:5;  Titus 
3  :  5-7.  The  condition  of  this  work  is  faith  in 
Christ.  The  nature  of  this  faith  it  is  the  object 
of  the  discourse  which  follows  to  explain  ;  it  is 
certainly  not  equivalent  to  belief,  and  the  use  of 
the  word  believe  is  an  unfortunate  necessity  from 
the  poverty  of  the  English  language,  which  con- 
tains no  verb  corresponding  to  the  noun  faith. 
Of  this  faith  I  know  no  better  nor  more  compre- 
hensive definition  than  that  of  Webster's  diction- 
ary, "That  confiding  and  afiectionate  belief  in 
the  person  and  work  of  Christ  which  afEects  the 
character  and  life,  and  makes  the  man  a  true 
Christian."  See  Heb.  11  :  1,  and  notice  that 
it  is  there  defined  not  only  as  the  evidence  of 
things  unseen,  i.  e.,  the  power  of  seeing  and 
realizing  the  invisible  world,  which  would  in- 
clude the  imagination,  but  also  as  the  substance 
of  things  hoped  for,  which  clearly  includes  the 
activity  of  the  desires  and  affections.  The  germ 
of  all  Paul's  subsequent  teaching  of  justification 
by  faith  is  contained  in  this  one  single  sentence. 
The  Epistles  are  but  an  amplification  of  the  gos- 
pel as  proclaimed  by  Christ  himself.  "I  know 
not  where  we  can  find  any  passage,  even  in  the 
writings  of  the  apostles,  which  says  more  sig- 


Ch.  VI.] 


JOHN. 


87 


est  thou  then,  that  we  may  see,  and  believe  thee  ?  what 
dost  thou  work  ? 

31  Our  fathers  "  did  eat  manna  in  the  desert ;  as  it  is 
written,!'  He  gave  them  bread  from  lieaven  to  eat. 

32  Then  Jesus  said  unto  them.  Verily,  verilv,  I  say 
unto  you,  Moses  gave  you  not  that  bread  from  heaven  ; 


but  m^t   Father   giveth   you  the   true   bread    from 
heaven. 

33  For  the  bread  of  God  '  is  he  which  cometh  down 
from  heaven,  and  giveth  Hfe  unto  the  world. 

34  Then  said  they  unto  him,  Lord,  evermore  give  us 
this  bread. 


0  Exod.  16  :  15  J  Numb.  11:7;  1  Cor.  10  :  3  ....  p  Neh.  9:15;  Ps.  78  :  24,  25 . . . .  q  Gal.  4  :  4 ....  r  verses  48,  58. 


niflcautly  that  all  eternal  life  in  men  proceeds 
from  nothing  else  than  faith  in  Christ." — {Schlei- 
ennacher. ) 

30,  31.  What  therefore  doest  thou  as  a 
sigu  that  we  may  see  and  believe  thee  ? 
This  response  of  theirs  brings  out  the  contrast 
between  faith  and  belief.  Christ  has  said,  Be- 
lieve in  him  whom  God  hath  sent ;  the  people, 
recognizing  his  reference  to  himself,  reply,  Why 
should  we  believe  you  '?  or,  as  Norton  renders  it, 
"give  you  credit."  He  calls  for  an  affectionate 
and  confidmg  belief  in  his  person  and  work,  they 
decline  to  give  him  simple  credence. — What 
dost  thou  work  ?  This  is  not,  as  Maurice 
seems  to  interpret  it,  the  language  of  a  spiritual 
yearning,  but,  as  Alford,  Stier,  Meyer,  the  lan- 
guage of  unbelief  and  opposition,  a  sarcastic  re- 
tort of  his  own  words.  "  Thou  commandest  us," 
say  they,  "to  work;  what  dost  thou  work  thy- 
self?" This  demand,  coming  so  soon  after  the 
feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  has  given  rise  to 
some  perplexity,  and  rationalistic  commentators 
cite  it  as  an  evidence  that  no  such  miraculous 
feeding  took  place.  If  not,  why  should  the  peo- 
ple refer  to  the  manna  ?  The  fact  is  that,  though 
the  five  thousand  were  fed,  no  explanation  was 
made  to  them  of  the  way  in  which  the  food  was 
provided ;  they  were  commanded  to  take  their 
seats ;  the  barley  cakes,  the  bread  of  the  poorest 
peasantry,  were  distributed  among  them ;  they 
were  doubtless  astonished ;  but  no  conclusions 
were  drawn  for  them,  and  they  were  not  in  the 
habit  of  drawing  conclusions  for  themselves. 
When,  therefore,  on  the  Sabbath,  Christ  met  in 
the  synagogue  some  of  those  who  had  been  fed, 
together  with  others  who  had  not  been  present, 
nothing  was  more  natural  than  this  demand,  im- 
pliedly for  both  a  repetition  and  an  explanation 
of  the  miracle.  This  is  the  significance  of  the 
reference  to  the  O.  T.  account  of  the  miracle  of 
the  manna,  "He  gave  them  bread  from  heaven 
to  eat"  (Ps. 78:24).  It  was  as  if  they  said.  The 
Psalmist  has  explicitly  pointed  out  the  way  in 
which  the  commission  of  Moses  was  confirmed ; 
leave  us  not  in  the  dark  respecting  the  feeding 
of  the  multitude,  which  was,  indeed,  strange, 
but  which  has  not  been  interpreted.  There  is 
also  implied  a  contrast  between  the  work  of 
Moses  and  the  work  of  Christ ;  the  manna  came 
down  from  heaven,  the  bread  was  distributed 
upon  the  earth ;  the  manna  was  given  day  by 
day  as  needed  for  forty  years,  the  bread  had 


been  given  but  once  ;  the  manna  was  a  sweet  and 
delicate  food,  "the  taste  of  it  like  wafers  with 
honey"  (Exod.  i6:3i),  and  it  was  among  the  rab- 
binical prophecies  that  the  Messiah  would  cause 
manna  to  descend  which  would  please  all  tastes, 
"  bread  for  the  young  men,  honey  for  the  old,  oil 
for  the  children;"  but  the  bread  which  Christ 
had  distributed  was  barley  bread,  the  commonest 
fare  of  the  poorest  people. 

32,  33.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you, 
not  Moses  gave  to  you  that  bread  from 
heaven  ;  but  my  Father  is  giving  you  that 
which  is  the  true  bread  from  heaven. 
The  people  have  referred  to  the  manna  as  the 
authentication  of  Moses ;  though  they  do  not  in 
words  refer  to  him,  the  spirit  of  their  response 
is  analogous  to  that  of  ch.  4  :  12,  Art  thou  great- 
er than  our  father  Jacob  ?  Compare  ch.  8  :  .53. 
To  this  Christ  replies  (1)  that  Moses  did  not  give 
the  manna ;  it  was  given  by  God  ;  Moses  had 
nothing  to  do  with  bestowing  it ;  the  Israelites 
found  it  in  the  morning  after  the  dew  had  dried 
off  the  ground  (Exod.  le :  4,  u).  (2)  This  manna 
was  not  the  true  bread,  but  merely  a  type  or 
shadow  of  the  spiritual  antitype ;  so  the  Red 
Sea,  the  rock,  the  brazen  serpent,  were  mute 
prophets  of   spiritual  verities,   to   be    fulfilled 

through    Christ    (ch.   4  :  14,   15;    1  Cor.    10  :  l-ll).        (3) 

Hence,  the  bread  of  God  was  not  a  past,  historic 
gift  fulfilled  in  the  days  of  the  wilderness,  but  a 
present  and  a  perpetual  gift,  which  the  Father 
is  ever  giving.  The  practical  contrast  suggested 
is  that  between  the  faith  which  reveres  only  a 
past  religion,  a  providence  and  an  inspiration  in 
the  days  of  the  patriarchs  and  prophets  and 
apostles,  and  that  which  holds  fast  to  a  present 
providence,  an  ever-living  Spirit,  and  a  con- 
tinuous inspiration,  a  living  bread  ever  given 
throughout  all  ages. — For  the  bread  of  God 
is  that  Avhich  comes  down  from  the  heaven 
and  gives  life  to  the  world,  Christ  here  lays 
down  a  general  principle  in  which  he  defines  the 
essential  characteristics  of  God's  spiritual  gift. 
That  alone  is  the  true  bread  (1)  which  is  ever- 
more descending  from  the  heavens,  a  perpetual 
bestowment ;  (2)  which  bestows  life ;  (3)  which 
is  for  the  world.  The  manna  did  not  last  over  a 
single  day  (Exod.  le  t  is,  20),  and  finally  ceased  to 
fall  when  the  Israelites  entered  the  Holy  Land 
(Josh.  5:12);  they  that  ate  it  all  died  (vcr.  49) ;  and 
it  was  given  only  to  a  single  nation.  The  type 
was  brief  in  its  duration,  limited  in  its  effects, 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VI. 


35  And  Jesus  said  unto  them,  I  am  the  bread  of  life : 
he  ^  that  cometh  to  me  shall  never  hunger ;  and  he ' 
that  believeth  on  me  shall  never  thirst. 


36  But  I  said  unto  you,  That  ye"  also  have  seen  me, 
and  believe  not. 

37  All "  that  the  Father  giveth  me  shall  come  to  me ; 
and  him  "  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out. 


s  Rev.  7  :  16.... t  chaps.  4:  14;    7:38. 


verse  64 v  verse  45  ;    ch.  17  :  6,  8,  etc vr  Ps.  102  :  17  ;    Isa.  1  :  18  ;   55  :  7  ;   Malt.  11  :  28  ; 

Luke  23  :  4i,  43  j   1  Tim.  1  :  15,  16  ;   Rev.  2i  :  17. 


confined  to  a  few  recipients.  The  antitype  is  for 
all  mankind,  confers  everlasting  life,  and  is  be- 
stowed evermore. 

34.  Lord,  evermore  give  to  us  this 
bread.  Comp.  ch.  4  :  15,  note.  Not  spoken 
ironically  {Calvin)^  nor  with  a  definite  idea  of 
some  miraculous  kind  of  sustenance,  a  magic 
food  or  means  of  life  from  heaven  {Alford,  Mcijer), 
nor  with  a  serious  comprehension  of  his  spiritual 
meaning  and  a  sincere  desire  for  his  spiritual 
gift  {3TanHce,  Liicke).  The  people  were  shallow 
and  superficial ;  without  comprehending  the 
meaning  of  Christ's  words,  they  yet  saw  in  them 
the  offer  of  something  desirable,  they  knew  not 
what,  and  asked  for  it.  In  the  minds  of  some 
there  may  have  been  a  dim  sense  of  the  value  of 
the  inner  life,  such  as  is  sometimes  borne  in 
upon  sensual  and  superficial  natures  by  the  mere 
power  of  the  presence  of  a  great  soul.  Comp. 
Luke  14  :  15.  There,  as  here,  Christ  by  his 
teaching  rebukes  the  superficial  and  ignorant 
desire  for  an  uncomprehended  blessedness ; 
there,  by  showing  parabolically  how  the  spir- 
itual food  is  declined  by  those  to  whom  it  is 
offered ;  here,  by  interpreting  the  nature  of  spir- 
itual food.  The  rejection  of  Christ  by  the  peo- 
ple here,  illustrates  the  parable  uttered  by  Christ 
there. 

35,  36.  I  am  the  bread  of  life.  They  say. 
Give  us  this  bread.  His  replj-  is,  The  bread  is 
already  given ;  it  is  for  you  to  accept  and  feed 
upon  it.  And  this  is  always  the  answer  of  the 
gospel  to  every  soul  that  cries  out  for  a  Saviour 
and  a  salvation.  How  the  soul  is  to  accept  this 
bread  he  then  goes  on  to  say. — He  that  com- 
eth to  me  shall  not  hunger,  and  he  that 
hath  faith  in  me  shall  never  thirst.  It  is 
clear  that  the  "coming"  and  "believing  in" 
here  are  equivalent  to  the  eating  and  drinking 
of  ver.  54.  See  notes  there.  The  coming  is  a 
continuous  coming  (present  participle  with  ttooc)  ; 
a  coming  into  Christ's  likeness,  and  therefore 
into  spiritual  unity  with  him  ;  a  coining  perfect- 
ed only  by  the  process  of  feeding  upon  him, 
drinking  in  his  spiritual  power  so  as  to  be  trans- 
formed by  it.  It  is  the  coming  which  David  de- 
scribes in  Psalm  63  :  8,  "My  soul  followeth  hard 
after  thee,"  and  Paul  in  Phil.  3  :  13, 14,  "Forget- 
ting those  things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching 
forth  unto  those  things  which  are  before,  I  press 
toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling 
of  God  in  Christ  Jesus. ' '  Comp,  with  the  prom- 
ise here  Matt.  5:6;  Rev.  7  :  16.     All  spiritual 


hunger  and  thirst  are  not  ended  when  Christian 
experience  begins,  because  in  this  life  we  are 
ever  coming  toward  Christ,  we  have  never  come 
fully  into  him.  This  coming  is  consummated 
when  we  are  one  with  Christ  as  he  is  one  with 
the  Father  (john  n  :  21, 22) ;  the  promise  of  the 
gospel  is  then  fulfilled  in  the  glorious  satisfaction 
of  a  perfected  redemption  (1  John  3:2;  Ps.  17 :  15). 
We  are  not  satisfied  till  we  awake  in  his  likeness. 
— Ye  also  have  seen  me  and  ye  have  not 
had  faith.  See  ch.  30  :  29.  The  reference  here 
may  either  be  to  words  actually  uttered  in  this 
discourse,  but  not  reported  by  John,  or  to  what 
he  has  said  by  implication  though  not  by  exact 
words,  or  to  rebukes  uttered  on  some  previous 
occasion,  e.  </.,  John  5  :  38,  40,  43. 

37,  38.  The  all  which  the  Father  has 
given  to  me  shall  come  toward  me,  and 
he  that  comes  toward  me  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out.  Toward^  not  to  me.  The  original 
{tiqoq)  indicates  the  object  toward  which  any- 
thing is  directed,  not  ordinarily  the  goal  actually 
reached.  The  promise  then  is  that  he  who  sets 
out  in  the  direction  of  Christ  shall  not  be  reject- 
ed by  him.  He  does  not  wait  till  we  have  come 
to  him ;  he  receives  us  when  we  start  toward 
him.  In  this  and  the  next  verse  all  {nCcy)  is  in 
the  neuter  gender,  indicating,  not  that  the  body 
is  included  with  the  soul  {Mcmrice),  but  that  the 
ivJwle  is  given  by  the  Father  in  its  totality,  but  is 
received  by  the  Son  separately  and  individually. 
"In  Jesus  Christ's  discourses,  that  which  the 
Father  hath  given  to  the  Son  himself  is  termed, 
in  the  singular  number  and  neuter  gender,  all; 
those  who  come  to  the  Son  himself  are  described 
in  the  masculine  gender,  or  even  the  plural  num- 
ber, every  one,  or  they.  The  Father  has  given  to 
the  Son  the  whole  mass,  as  it  were,  that  all 
whom  he  hath  given  may  be  one  ;  that  whole  the 
Son  develoijs  individually  in  the  execution  of  the 
divine  plan." — {Bengel.)  Christ's  language  here 
indicates  his  dependence  upon  the  Father's  will 
and  power,  and  is  analogous  to  that  in  many  of 
his  discourses,  especially  in  those  reported  by 
John.  He  has  come  to  do  his  Father's  will ;  the 
works  which  he  does  are  those  which  his  Father 
has  given  him  to  do,  and  are  done  by  his  Father's 
power ;  the  words  which  he  speaks  are  his  Fa- 
ther's words  ;  his  whole  life  is  represented  as  the 
incarnate  expression  of  his  Father's  will ;  and 
those  whom  he  saves  are  saved  not  by  his  own 
independent  power,  they  are  those  whom  his 
Father  has  given  him  (ch.  10 :  28, 29).    Here  then  I 


Ch.  VL] 


JOHN. 


89 


38  For  I  came  down  from  heaven,  not  to  do  mine 
own  will,  but  "  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me. 

39  And  this  is  the  Father's  will  y  which  hath  sent  me, 
that  of  all  which  he  hath  given  me  I  should  lose  noth- 
ing, but  should  raise  it  up  again  at  the  last  day. 

40  And  this  is  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me,  that^ 
every  one  which  seeth  the  Sou,  and  believeth  on  him, 


may  have  everlasting  life :  and  I  will '  raise  him  up  at 
the  last  day. 

^i  The  Jews  then  murmured  at  him,  because  he 
said,  I  am  the  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven. 

42  And  they  said,  Is''  not  this  Jesus,  the  son  of  Jo- 
seph, whose  father  and  mother  we  know  ?  how  is  it 
then  that  he  saith,  I  came  down  from  heaven  ? 


I  ch.  5:30:  Pa.  40  :  7,  8. .  ..y  chops.  10  :  28  ;   17:12;   18:9;   Mutt.  18  :  14;  2  Tim.  2  :  19... 

b  MaLt.  13  :  65  ;   Mark  6:3;    Luku  4  :  ii. 


verses  47,  64;  ch.  3  :  IB,  16.... a  ch.  11  :55.. 


xinderstand  Christ  neither  to  limit  his  salvation 
nor  to  declare  it  to  be  without  limit.  He  simply 
asserts  on  the  one  hand  that  his  saving  power  is 
efficacious  only  over  those  whom  the  Father  has 
given  unto  him,  and  on  the  other  that  there  is 
nothing  lacking  in  his  grace  or  power  which  shall 
cause  those  thus  given  to  fail  of  a  perfected  salva- 
tion. As  a  Saviour  he  is  the  representative  of  the 
Father's  gracious  love  and  power.  Here  there  is 
no  indication  who  are  the  all  thus  given  to  him. 
From  other  Scripture,  however,  it  appears  clear 
that  it  includes  many  among  the  heathen  nations 
(Ps.  2 : 8  with  Matt.  8 :  ii),  and  that  it  docs  not  include 
the  entire  human  race  (ch.  n  ;  6, 9, 25).  This  inter- 
pretation is  confirmed  by  the  verse  which  fol- 
lows, which  further  expresses  the  subjection  of 
the  Son  in  his  mediatorial  work  to  the  Father. — 
Because  I  came  down  from  heaven,  not 
that  I  might  do  mine  own  Avill,  but  the 
will  of  him  that  sent  me.  The  catholicity  of 
Christ's  love  is  a  disclosure  of  the  love  of  the 
Father  toward  us.  In  these  words  Christ  gives 
us  a  suggestion  of  the  reason  of  his  receiving 
sinners  and  making  them  companions  and  asso- 
ciates. BUs  own  earthy  inclinations,  tastes,  and 
sensibilities,  had  he  followed  them,  would  all 
have  been  against  such  society ;  but  all  were 
subordinate  to,  and  overridden  by,  his  great  con- 
trolling purpose  that  the  world  through  him 
might  be  saved  (ch.  3  :  n ;  1  Tim.  1  :  15).  For  every 
Christian  disciple  there  is  a  practical  lesson  in 
these  words  of  Christ.  We  are  all  sent  into  the 
world  as  Christ  also  was  sent  into  the  world  (ch. 
17 :  18) ;  and  it  is  ours  to  see  to  it  that  no  pride, 
or  social  taste,  or  moral  irresolution,  induce  us  to 
cast  out  those  who  would  otherwise  come  to  us 
for  help  ;  but  we  are  also  to  remember  that  our 
power  to  help  does  not  extend  beyond  those 
whom  the  Father  in  his  own  gracious  wisdom 
has  seen  fit  to  give  to  us  as  the  seals  to  our  apos- 
tleship  (1  Cor.  9 : 2). 

39,  40.  And  this  is  the  will  of  him  that 
sent  me,  that  the  all  which  he  has  given 
me,  from  it  I  should  lose  nothing,  but 
shall  raise  it  up  in  the  last  day.  In  omit- 
ting the  word  Father  from  verse  39  and  inserting 
it  in  verse  40  I  follow  the  best  MSS.  See  Alford. 
The  resurrection  here  spoken  of  is  the  resurrec- 
tion of  life,  i.  e.,  unto  eternal  life  (ch.  5 :  29),  which 
Is  given  only  through  Christ  (ch.  11 :  25 ;  pmi.  3 :  10, 11). 
— For  this  is  the  will  of  my  Father,  that 


every  one  («"?,  not  /tuv),  masculine,  not  neu- 
ter ;  the  whole  is  given  to  the  Son ;  but  each  one 
must  come  by  and  for  himself  to  the  Son. — 
Seeing  the  Son.  Looking  unto  him,  as  those 
bitten  in  the  wilderness  looked  unto  the  brazen 

serpent   (ch.  3  :  U,  15  ;    Numb.  21  :  9  ;   Isa.  45  :  22). — And 

having  faith  in  him.  Making  Christ  the  sub- 
stance of  his  hope  as  well  as  the  object  of  his 
faith  (Heb.  11 : 1;  ver.  29,  note). — 3Iay  havc  eternal 
life ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last 
day.  These  verses  clearly  imply  (1)  that  there 
is  nothing  in  any  secret  decree  or  election  of 
God,  or  in  the  nature  or  extent  of  the  provisions 
of  divine  grace,  to  limit  the  gift  of  eternal  life  or 
prevent  any  one  from  receiving  it  through  faith 
in  the  Son ;  (2)  that  the  only  condition  required 
is  one  inherent  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  namely, 
a  sincere  belief  in,  and  desire  for,  that  spiritual 
life  which  alone  is  eternal  and  of  which  Christ 
is  the  supreme  manifestation  ;  (3)  that  whoever 
has  once  thus  looked  to  Christ  with  living  faith 
has  an  absolute  assurance  of  preservation  from 
the  weakness  of  his  own  wUl,  as  well  as  from 
external  temptation,  an  assurance  afforded  by 
Christ's  declaration,  "Of  all  which  he  has  given 
me  I  shall  lose  nothing."  It  does  not  imply  a 
literal  bodily  resurrection.  The  literalism  which 
so  reads  this  promise  is  akin  to  that  which  mis- 
interpreted Christ's  language  respecting  eating 
his  flesh  and  diinking  his  blood.  The  whole 
spirit  and  tone  of  this  discourse  is  poetic  and 
metaphorical. 

41,  42.  The  Jews  then  murmured  at 
him.  The  Jews  are  in  the  usage  of  John  the 
Judemis ;  here,  those  who  had  come  from  Jera- 
salem,  or  who,  dwelling  in  Galilee,  partook  of 
the  character  of  the  more  bigoted  and  supersti- 
tious dwellers  in  the  southern  province. — Be- 
cause he  said,  I  am  the  bread,  etc.  Their 
reference  is  to  what  he  has  said  in  verses  33,  35, 
38.  Envy  was  the  real  cause  of  their  murmur- 
ing. This  claim  to  superiority  offended  their 
pride. — Is  not  this  Jesus  the  son  of  Jo- 
seph, etc.  Comp.  ch.  7  :  27 ;  Mark  6  :  3.  The 
Christ  they  knew  was  the  Christ  according  to  the 
flesh,  whom  Paul  declared  he  would  not  know 
(2  Cor.  5 :  16) ;  the  Christ  who  came  down  from 
heaven,  that  is,  the  divine  Spirit  working  in  him 
and  manifesting  itself  through  him,  they  did  not 
know.  He  is  known  and  only  can  be  known  by 
spiritual  apprehension.— How  then  saith  this 


90 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VL 


43  Jesus  therefore  answered  and  said  unto  them, 
Murmur  not  among  yourselves. 

44  No  man  can  come  to  me,  except  the  Father  which 
hath  sent  me  draw  "^  him  :  and  1  will  raise  him  up  at  the 
last  day. 


45  It  is  written  >*  in  the  prophets,  And  they  shall  be  all 
taught  of  God.  Every  man  >^  therefore  that  hath  heard, 
and  hath  learned  of  the  Father,  cometh  uiUo  me. 

46  Not'  that  any  man  hath  seen  the  Father,  save  he 
which  is  of  God,8  "he  hath  seen  the  Father. 


c  Cant.  1:4 d  Isa.  64  :  13 ;  Jer.  31  :  34 ;  Mlcah  4:2. 


Matt.  11 :  27 . . . .  f  ch.  6  :  37 . , . .  g  Luke  10  :  22. 


fellow  {UysL  ovrog).  There  is  implied  in  the 
original  Greek  a  contempt  which  may  fairly  be 
expressed  hy  this  translation.  The  same  expres- 
sion is  so  translated  in  Matt.  12  :  2i ;  26  :  61 ; 
Luke  23  :  2 ;  John  9  :  29. 

43-45.  Jesus  therefore  answered,  *  * 
*  *  No  one  (not,  no  man)  can  come  unto 
me  except  the  Father  which  has  sent  me 
draw  him.  Parallel  to  this  declaration  is  that 
of  Matt.  16  :  17 ;  the  true  knowledge  of  Christ  is 
revealed  to  the  soul  by  the  Father.  There  has 
been  much  theological  discussion  as  to  the  proper 
interpretation  of  this  passage.  On  the  one  hand. 
Calvin  declares  that  "it  is  therefore  a  false  and 
profane  assertion,  that  none  are  drawn  but 
those  who  are  wUling  to  be  draton,  as  if  man 
made  himself  obedient  to  God  by  his  own  ef- 
forts ;  for  the  wilhngness  with  which  men  follow 
God  is  what  they  already  have  from  himself, 
who  has  framed  their  hearts  to  obey  him  ;  "  on 
the  other  hand,  Adam  Clark,  representing  the 
Arminian  school  of  theology,  thus  interprets  the 
divine  drawing:  "A  man  is  attracted  by  that 
which  he  delights  in.  Show  green  herbage  to  a 
sheep,  he  is  drawn  by  it ;  show  nuts  to  a  child, 
and  he  is  drawn  by  them.  They  run  wherever 
the  person  runs  who  shows  these  things ;  they 
run  after  him,  but  they  are  not  forced  to  follow ; 
they  run  through  the  desire  they  feel  to  get  the 
things  they  delight  in.  So  God  draws  man ;  he 
shows  him  his  wants — he  shows  the  Saviour 
whom  he  has  provided  for  him."  The  true  in- 
terpretation of  the  declaration  involves  the  long 
disputed  and  yet  unsettled  problem  of  the  psy- 
chology of  the  will,  what  is  the  nature  of  and 
what  are  the  limits  to  its  freedom  of  action,  a 
problem  which  belongs  rather  to  the  domain  of 
mental  science  than  to  that  of  theology  or  Biblical 
interpretation.  In  interpreting  this  passage, 
however,  the  student  should  consider :  (1)  the  lit- 
eral meaning  of  the  word  draw  (^Azw).  This  pri- 
marily carries  with  it  the  idea  of  force,  and  is 
used  by  Homer  of  carrying  one  away  captive  ;  by 
Luke,  of  dragging  persons  before  a  court  (Acts 

16  :  19 ;   comp.  James  2:6);     and    by    Johu    hlmSClf    of 

dragging  a  net  (ch.  21  : 6,  11).  Thus  the  metaphor 
involved  in  the  word  implies  at  least  a  certain 
resistance  to  the  divine  love  and  a  certain  diffi- 
culty to  be  overcome  by  the  divine  drawing.  (2) 
Parallel  teachings  in  the  O.  T.  and  N.  T.  (comp. 

Sol.  Song  4:1;    Jer.  31  :  3 ;    Hos.  11:4;    Luke  14  :  23,  note  ;   John 

12 :  32;  1  Cor.  1 : 9),  wherc  the  word  Called  is  parallel 
to  the  word  draw  here  (phii.  2 :  12, 13).     (3)  Christ's 


own  interpretation  of  the  Father's  drawing,  af- 
forded by  ver.  45.  They  that  have  learned  of  the 
Father  are  they  that  are  drawn  by  him.  (4)  The 
nature  of  that  coming  to  Christ  which  is  the  ob- 
ject of  the  divine  drawing.  "We  do  not  come 
to  Christ  by  walking,  but  by  believing ;  not  by 
the  movement  of  the  body,  but  by  the  free  wUl 
of  the  heart.  *  *  *  *  Thmk  not  that  thou 
art  drawn  against  thy  will,  for  the  mind  is  drawn 
by  love." — (Augustine.)  Interpreting  this  pas- 
sage in  the  light  of  these  considerations,  I  under- 
stand not  that  God  drags  the  unwilling  by  an 
irresistible  grace,  nor  merely  the  willing  by  plac- 
ing before  the  will  in  its  natural  condition  such 
objects — a  sense  of  its  needs  and  a  revelation  of 
its  Saviour — as  attract  the  unsatisfied  heart  to 
himself ;  but  that  he  makes  the  soul  willing  in 
the  day  of  his  power,  working  in  us  both  to  wDl 
and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure  (Ps.  110 : 3 ;  Phu.  2 :  13). 
— It  is  written  in  the  prophets  (isa.  64  :  13), 
They  shall  be  all  taught  of  God.  The  all 
here  appears  clearly  from  the  reference  in  Isaiah 
to  be  all  the  children  of  God,  not  all  humanity. 
— Every  one,  therefore,  hearing  from  the 
Father  and  learning,  comes  unto  me. 
Emphasis  is  placed  by  the  structure  of  the  sen- 
tence in  the  original  Greek  on  the  word  learning. 
The  Pharisees  heard,  but  they  did  not  learn.  He 
that  does  not  reverently  recognize  the  divine 
glory  in  the  life  and  character  of  Christ,  who 
sees  no  beauty  in  him  that  he  should  desire  him, 
does  not  possess  true  piety,  has  not  heard  and 
learned  of  God. 

46.  Not  that  any  one  has  seen  the  Fa- 
ther. The  object  of  this  verse,  which  is  paren- 
thetical, seems  to  be  to  guard  the  Jews  against 
an  unspiritual  interpretation  of  his  words. — 
Save  he  which  is  from  God.  Evidently 
Jesus  refers  to  himself.  Comp.  ver.  35,  and  ob- 
serve how  habitually  he  distinguishes  himself 
from  man,  never  classing  himself  with  men. 
"Imagine  a  human  creature  saying  to  the  world, 
'  I  came  forth  from  the  Father — ye  are  from  be- 
neath, I  am  from  above  ; '  facing  all  the  intelli- 
gence and  even  the  philosophy  of  the  world,  and 
saying,  in  bold  assurance,  '  Behold,  a  greater 
than  Solomon  is  here  ' — '  I  am  the  light  of  the 
world ' — '  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life  ; '  pub- 
lishing to  all  peoples  and  religions,  'No  man 
cometh  to  the  Father,  but  by  me ; '  promising 
openly  in  his  death,  '  I  will  draw  all  men  unto 
me ; '  addressing  the  Infinite  Majesty,  and  testi- 
fying, '  I  have  glorified  thee  on  the  earth ; '  call- 


Ch.  VI.] 


JOHN. 


91 


47  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,''  He  that  believetli 
on  me  hath  everlasting  life. 

48  I '  am  that  bread  of  life. 

49  Your  fathers  did  eat  manna  in  the  wilderness, 
anJj  are  dead. 

50  This  is  the  bread  which  cometh  down  irom  heaven, 
that  a  man  may  eat  thereof,  and  ^^  not  die. 


51  I  am  the  living  bread  which  came  down  from 
heaven  :  if  any  man  eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall  live  for 
ever:  and  the  bread  that  I  will  give  is  my  tlesh,'  which 
I  will  give  tor  the  life'"  of  the  world. 

52  The  Jews  therefore  strove  among  themselves, 
saying,  How  "  can  this  man  give  us  Azs  flesh  to  eat  ? 

53  Then  Jesus  said  unto  them,  Verily,  verily,  I  say 


h  verse  40 i  verses  33,  36,  61 j  Zech.  1  :  5 k  verse  68 1  Heb.  10  :  6,  10,  20 m  ch.  3  :16  ;  1  John  2  :  2 n  ch.3  :  9 


ing  to  the  liuman  race,  '  Come  unto  me ' — '  fol- 
low me  ; '  laying  his  hand  upon  aU  the  dearest 
and  most  intimate  affections  of  life,  and  demand- 
ing a  precedent  love  :  '  He  that  loveth  father  or 
mother  more  than  me  is  not  worthy  of  me.'  " — 
(£ush7iel!.) 

47,  48.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,. 
He  that  hath  faith  hath  eternal  life.  The 
words  on  me  are  wanting  in  the  best  manuscripts, 
are  omitted  by  Tischendorf  and  Alford,  and  are 
queried  by  Schaff ;  internal  evidence  is  against 
them.  The  declaration  is  generic ;  faith  in  the 
largest  sense  of  that  word — the  power  which  lays 
hold  upon  the  invisible  and  the  hope  which 
reaches  after  it  (Heb.  n  :  i),  a  faith  which  may  be 
and  is  exercised  by  those  who  have  never  known 
Christ  (Kom.  2 : 7),  is  the  essential  condition  of 
spiritual  life.  This  life  is  not,  as  in  our  English 
version,  merely  "everlasting  life,"  but  life  eter- 
nal, i.  e.,  the  spiritual  life  which  is  created  in  the 
soul  when  it  is  born  from  above,  which  is  nur- 
tured in  the  soul  that  foUows  after  that  it  may 
apprehend  Christ  Jesus  (phu.  3 :  12),  the  fruits  of 
which  are  love,  joy,  peace,  etc.  (oai.  5 :  22, 23).  This 
eternal  life  is  a  present  possession ;  he  that  hath 
faith  already  hath  this  life. — I  am  the  bread 
of  that  life.  Faith  may  exist  without  Christ, 
as  it  did  in  the  O.  T.  prophets  and  patriarchs, 
and  as  it  does  in  greater  or  less  measure  in  some 
at  least  of  those  in  heathen  lands  ;  but  Christ  is 
the  bread  of  that  Ufe  ;  by  him  it  is  fed,  strength- 
ened, and  made  to  grow  ;  by  him  faith  in  invis- 
ible things  is  made  rich  and  strong.  The  univer- 
sal effect  of  a  pure  Christianity  has  been  to  turn 
the  mind  away  from  material  things  to  unseen 
realities  (2  cor.  3 :  is). 

49-5 1 .  In  these  verses  Christ  marks  the  con- 
trast between  the  bread  given  in  the  wilderness 
through  Moses,  to  which  the  people  had  referred 
(ver.  31),  and  for  a  repetition  of  which  they  had 
asked,  and  the  spiritual  bread  of  which  this 
material  manna  was  but  a  type.  That  manna 
was  temporary  in  its  effects,  the  fathers  were 
dead,  of  this  spiritual  bread  if  one  eats  he  shall 
7wt  die,  it  is  eternal  in  its  effects ;  that  bread  was 
material,  dead,  this  is  a  living  and  immortal 
bread ;  that  was  given  to  a  few,  the  Jewish  na- 
tion, this  descends  from  heaven,  that  any  one 
may  eat  of  it,  it  is  for  universal  humanity  ;  that 
bread  was  bestowed  without  suffering,  this 
bread  is  a  divine  sacrifice  given  for  the  sake  of 
saving  others  from  suffering. — This  (fellow)  is 


the  bread.  They  had  said  (ver.  42),  "How  then 
saith  this  fellow?  "  He  replies,  repeating  their 
language  of  contempt.  This  (fellow,  oCtd:)  is  the 
bread  which  descends  from  heaven.  Observe 
that  his  language  here,  as  throughout  this  dis- 
course, implies  his  pre-existence,  if  not  his  su- 
pernatural birth.  —  In  order  that  any  one 
may  eat  of  it  and  may  not  die.  Not  merely 
"that  one  may  eat;"  his  language,  "that  any 
one  may  eat,"  implies  the  universalitj'  of  divine 
grace ;  the  bread  is  for  whosoever  will. — I  am 
the  living  bread.  Not  equivalent  to  life-giv- 
ing, for  which  another  Greek  word  (not  !:<>u>.  but 
i^oioTtoiiw)  would  have  been  used.  Here,  as  in 
John  4  :  10,  is  signified  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
food  itself  which  Christ  affords  by  the  bestowal 
of  himself.  It  is  true  that  Christ  is  life-giving, 
but  he  is  so  because  he  is  ever-living.  He  ix  the 
life,  therefore  he  gives  life. — If  any  one  eat  of 
this  bread.  Again  the  universality  of  divine 
grace  is  implied.  Comp.  Acts  2  :  38,  39,  note  and 
refs.  there. — He  shall  live  unto  eternity. 
Not  merely  forever.  The  idea  here,  as  every- 
where throughout  the  N.  T.,  is  not  merely  an 
endless  existence,  which  might  be  no  boon,  but 
an  immortal,  a  divine  life,  the  very  life  of  God, 
making  the  new-born  soul  a  true  son  of  God. — 
And  the  bread  which  I  Avill  give.  Observe 
the  future  tense.  He  speaks  therefore  of  a  gift 
yet  to  be  perfected  by  his  passion  and  death. — Is 
my  flesh,  which  I  Avill  give  for  the  sake 
of  (vnir))  the  life  of  the  world.  Comp.  ch. 
3  :  16.  It  seems  to  me  that  these  enigmatical 
words  are  added  to  guard  the  church  from  fall- 
ing into  the  error  of  supposing  that  Christ's  doc- 
trine is  the  bread  of  life,  and  that  to  hear  and 
believe  his  words  as  a  divine  teacher  is  to  secure 
the  life  eternal  of  which  he  speaks.  This  bread  is 
not  merely  the  teaching  nor  the  example  of  Christ ; 
the  sacrifice  is  an  essential  principle  of  that  spirit- 
ual food  which  he  has  provided  for  the  world's  life. 
52.  How  can  this  (fellow)  give  us  his 
flesh  to  eat  ?  The  Judeans  here  interpret 
Christ's  words  with  precisely  the  literaUsm  with 
which  the  church  of  Rome  has  interpreted  them 
since.  The  rest  of  the  discourse  Christ  devotes 
to  guarding  his  hearers  against  this  misappre- 
hension of  literal  and  prosaic  natures,  and  to 
emphasising  the  mystical  doctrine  to  the  eluci- 
dation of  which  the  whole  discourse  is  devoted. 
Verses  53-55  reiterate  and  re-emphasize  the 
truth  that  the  soul  must  feed  on  Christ,  receive 


92 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VI. 


unto  you,  Except "  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man, 
and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you. 

54  Whoso  p  eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinlteth  my  blood, 
hath  eternal  life  ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day. 


55  For  my  flesh  is  meat  indeed ,i  and  my  blood  is 
drinl<  indeed. 

56  He  that  eateth  ■■  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood, 
dwelleth '  in  me,  and  I  in  him. 


0  Matt.  26  :  26,  23 p  verse  40 q  Ps.  4  :  7. . .  r  Lam.  i 


.a  ch.  15  ;  4  ;    1  John  3  ;  24  ;  4:15,  16. 


Mm,  his  life,  his  death,  his  character,  as  the 
supply  of  its  own  spiritual  life  ;  verses  57-59  and 
verses  61-63  interpret  what  he  means  by  the 
metaphor.  In  the  interpretation  of  Christ's 
symbolic  language  here  we  are  to  guard  our- 
selves against  simplifying  it,  either  by  a  literal 
rendering  on  the  one  hand,  or,  on  the  other,  by 
that  process  of  rationalism  which,  under  pre- 
tence of  interpreting  a  metaphor,  does  away  with 
it  altogether.  If  there  were  nothing  mystical  in 
the  doctrine,  we  may  be  sure  that  Christ  would 
not  have  clothed  it  in  language  seemingly  so  full 
of  mysticism. 

53-55.  Therefore  Jesus  said  unto  them. 
Therefore  connects  what  follows  with  what  has 
preceded  ;  he  emphasizes  and  explains  the  eating 
and  drinking,  in  response  to  their  interruption  in 
ver.  53. — Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you. 
These  words  give  a  solemn  emphasis  to  the  dec- 
laration which  follows. — Except  ye  eat  the 
flesh  of  the  Son  of  man.  That  is,  of  the  Mes- 
siah (Matt.  10 :  23,  note). — And  drink  his  blood. 
The  use  of  animal  blood  in  any  form  was  prohib- 
ited to  the  Israelites  as  food  (Gen.  9:4;  Lev.  3:17; 
7  :  26,  27  ;  17  :  10-14 ;  19  :  26 ;  Deut.  12  :  16,  23  ;  15  :  23),  and  WaS 

exceedingly  odious  to  the  Jewish  thought. 
Moreover,  to  touch  even  the  corpse  of  a  man 
rendered  the  Jew  unclean.  It  is  not,  therefore, 
strange  that  Christ's  language  here  should  have 
offended  many  even  of  his  disciples  (ver.  eo). — Ye 
have  no  life  in  you.  The  mere  physical  life 
is  accounted  in  the  N.  T.  no  life  at  aU.  The  true 
life  is  that  of  God  in  the  soul,  the  absence  of 
which  is  death. — Whoso  eateth  my  flesh. 
The  Greek  verb  rendered  in  both  places  eat  is 
different  from  that  used  above.  The  word  here 
(tQwyoj)  signifies  literally  to  chew  or  masticate,  and 
seems  to  me  to  have  been  substituted  by  Christ 
for  the  more  general  one  {cpaynr),  in  order  to 
add  still  further  emphasis  to  the  doctrine  which 
he  is  expounding. — And  drinketh  my  blood, 
hath  eternal  life.  A  present  possession.  See 
ver.  47,  note. — And  I  Avill  raise  him  up  at 
the  last  day.  This  is  one  of  the  passages  on 
which  the  advocates  of  the  doctrine  of  condi- 
tional immortality  base  their  belief.  The  promise 
of  resurrection  here  certainly  is  limited  to  those 
who  through  faith  have  received  the  gift  of  eter- 
nal life. — For  my  flesh  is  true  meat  and 
my  blood  is  true  drink.  To  Christ  the  ma- 
terial universe  was  but  a  shadow,  and  the  reali- 
ties were  those  things  of  which  the  material 
universe  is  a  type.  "Food  and  drink  are  not 
here  mere  metaphors;  rather  are  our  common 


material  food  and  drink  mere  shadows  and  im- 
perfect types  of  this  only  real  reception  of  re- 
freshment and  nourishment  into  the  being." — 
(Alford.)  In  the  interpretation  of  Christ's  lan- 
guage here,  the  student  must  remember  the 
declaration  respecting  him,  "Without  a  parable 
spake  he  not  unto  them"  (Mark  4  :  34) ;  unques- 
tionably the  language  here  is  parabolic.  It  is 
also  true  that  the  phrases  eating  and  drinking 
were  used  among  the  Jews  in  a  metaphorical 
sense,  and  that  bread  especially  was  employed 
among  them  as  a  symbol  for  doctrine  (isa.  3 : 1 ;  jer. 

15  :  16  ;    Lightfoot  on  John  6  :  51 ;   Geikie's  Life  of  Christ,  ch.  44, 

note  c).  It  seems  to  me,  however,  very  clear  not 
only  that  Christ  here  means  something  more  than 
receiving  his  doctrines,  but  that  he  employs  his 
peculiar  language  for  the  express  purpose  of 
emphasizing  the  truth  that  it  is  not  merely 
enough  to  receive  him  as  a  teacher.  If  this  had 
been  his  meaning,  it  would  have  been  easy  to  cor- 
rect the  misapprehension  of  his  Jewish  hearers, 
and  remove  the  offence  which  they  felt  at  his  dis- 
course. This  he  does  not  do.  On  the  contrary, 
he  declares,  not  that  they  must  eat  the  b7'ead  of 
the  Son  of  man,  but  that  they  must  eat  his  fleah 
and  drink  ?ds  blood  (ver.  53) ;  in  a  slightly  different 
form,  he  reiterates  this  declaration  in  ver.  5i; 
and  finally,  to  avoid  the  possibility  of  the  misin- 
terpretation which  substitutes  his  teaching  for 
his  personal  presence  and  influence,  he  adds  the 
emphatic  declaration  of  ver.  .55.  If  something 
more  than  accepting  and  following  the  teaching 
of  Christ  is  not  meant  by  these  verses,  then  it 
would  seem  that  Christ  has  embodied  a  very 
simple  truth  in  very  unnecessarily  mystical  lan- 
guage. That  more  than  this  is  meant  I  take  to 
be  declared  unmistakably  by  verses  53-55  ;  what 
more  than  this  is  meant  it  is  the  object  of  verses 
56-58  to  show.  The  commentators  have  discussed 
at  great  length  the  question  what  relation  the 
solemn  assertions  of  these  verses  bear  to  the 
Lord's  Supper.  There  are  three  general  opin- 
ions :  (1)  that  no  reference  to  the  Lord's  Supper 
is  intended ;  (2)  that  the  whole  passage  exclu- 
sively relates  to  the  Lord's  Supper  prophetically ; 
(3)  that  the  idea  involved  in  the  Lord's  Supper, 
but  not  the  ordinance  itself,  is  referred  to.  For 
discussion  of  these  opinions,  see  Alford's  note. 
To  me  it  seems  clear  that  Christ  here  teaches  by 
a  word-parable  the  same  truth  which  he  subse- 
quently embodies  in  a  parable  in  action  in  the 
ordinance  of  the  Supper ;  whether  he  propheti- 
cally refers  to  it  or  not  is  a  question  of  no  great 
importance. 


Ch.  VL] 


JOHN. 


93 


57  As  the  living  Father  hath  sent  me,  and  I  live  by 
the  Father:  so' ne  that  eateth  me,  even  he  shall  live 
by  me. 

s8  This  is  that  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven : 


not  as  your  fathers"  did  eat  manna,  and  are  dead  :  he 
that  eateth  of  this  bread  shall  live  fur  ever. 

59  These  things  said  he  in  the  synagogue,  as  he 
taught  in  Capernaum. 


t  1  Cor.  15  :  i'i  .  . 


56-58.  He  that  eateth  my  flesh  and 
drinketh  my  blood  abides  (uivu)  in  me  and 
I  in  him.  This  result  of  the  eating  and  drink- 
ing interprets  the  kind  of  eating  and  drinking 
Bignified.  The  same  truth  is  elsewhere  inter- 
preted by  other  metaphors,  as  by  that  of  being 
engrafted  on  Christ  (john  15 : 4, 5) ;  being  rooted  in 
him  (Ephes.  3 :  n) ;  being  joined  to  him  as  the  body 
to  the  head  (Ephes.  4 :  15,  16) ;  being  married  to  him 
(Ephes.  5 :  23) ;  receiving  him  as  a  temple  receives 
and  is  made  sacred  by  the  Spirit  of  God  (1  Cor. 

3:16);  being  clothed  with  him  (Rom.  13  :  14 ;  Gal.  3  :  27). 

— And  I  in  him.  As  Christ  is  in  the  Father 
and  the  Father  in  Christ,  so  the  disciples  are  to 
be  one  in  them  (John  17:21). — As  the  livinsr 
Father  hath  sent  me  and  I  live  by  the 
Father,  so  he  that  eateth  me,  even  he 
shall  live  by  me.  This  one  verse  should  have 
prevented  the  three  current  errors  of  interpreta- 
tion in  this  chapter :  (1)  that  spiritual  life  is  de- 
pendent on  a  literal  feeding  on  Christ's  body  and 
blood  ;  (3)  that  it  is  dependent  on  a  sacramental 
feeding  on  the  sacred  symbols  of  his  body ;  (3) 
that  it  requires  only  a  belief  in  him  as  a  religious 
teacher.  How  did  Christ  live  by  the  Father  ? 
Certainly  not  by  any  literal  eating  of  the  Father's 
flesh  or  drinking  of  the  Father's  blood ;  nor  by 
any  symbol  or  ceremonial  whatever  ;  nor  yet  bj^ 
any  mere  hearing  and  obeying  of  the  Father's 
words.  The  Father  was  personally  present  in 
Christ ;  Christ,  by  his  words  and  his  acts,  mani- 
fested the  indwelling  glory  of  the  Father ;  so 
Christ  fed  on  the  Father  because  the  Father  was 
the  source  and  supply  of  his  spiritual  life.  In 
like  manner  we  feed  on  Christ,  not  when  we 
merely  accept  and  endeavor  to  follow  his  pre- 
cepts, but  when,  under  the  direct  personal  influ- 
ence of  his  spiritual  presence,  we  manifest  his 
glory  unto  the  world,  having  not  merely  a  spirit 
like  Christ,  but  having  the  very  spirit  of  Christ 
himself  in  us  (Rom.  8 : 9,  10). — This  is  that  bread 
which  came  down  from  heaven.  Christ 
thus  interprets  his  own  previous  metaphor. — 
Not  as  your  fathers  did  eat  and  are  dead. 
Again  he  guards  the  Jews  against  their  literal 
interpretation  ;  the  eating  of  which  he  has  spo- 
ken is  not  the  physical  eating  for  the  supply  of 
the  body  ;  this  can  never  give  true  life. 

After  this  chapter  had  gone  to  press  a  remark- 
able article  from  the  pen  of  Dean  Stanley  ap- 
peared on  "The  Eucharist"  in  the  Nineteenth 
Centuiy  (May,  1878),  in  which  he  arrives  at 
substantially  the  same  conclusions  that  I  have 
arrived  at  in  these  notes,  and  enforces  them  with 


his  usual  eloquence  and  learning.  He  urges  that 
in  all  religious  ordinances  we  ought  to  try  to  get 
beneath  the  phrases  we  use,  and  not  to  rest  sat- 
isfied with  the  words,  however  excellent,  till  we 
have  ascertained  their  meaning;  that  Christ's 
words  here  and  in  the  appointment  of  the  last 
supper  as  a  permanent  memorial  ordinance  are 
evidently  metaphorical ;  that  the  very  strange- 
ness of  the  metaphor  should  turn  our  thoughts 
from  the  outward  form  to  the  inward  essence  ; 
that  the  body  and  flesh  signify  the  personality 
and  character  of  Christ ;  that  we  must  incorpo- 
rate in  ourselves,  that  is  in  our  moral  natures, 
the  substance — the  moral  substance — of  the 
teaching  and  character  of  Jesus  Christ ;  that  this 
is  the  only  true  transubstantiation ;  that  the  blood 
of  Christ  is  his  spirit,  the  inmost  essence  of  his 
character,  the  self  of  his  self  ;  and  that  to  drink 
his  blood  is  to  imbibe  this  inmost  spirit ;  that 
this  spirit  is  love  or  charity,  which  is  throughout 
the  New  Testament  represented  as  the  funda- 
mental essence  of  the  highest  life  of  God,  and 
therefore  of  his  children ;  and  he  interprets 
verses  53-56  here,  in  accordance  with  these  prin- 
ciples, as  follows  :  "  This  is  one  of  those  startling 
expressions  used  by  Christ  to  show  us  that  he 
intends  to  drive  us  from  the  letter  to  the  spirit, 
by  which  he  shatters  the  crust  and  shell  in  order 
to  force  us  to  the  kernel.  It  is  as  if  he  said  :  '  It 
is  not  enough  for  you  to  see  the  outward  face  of 
the  Son  of  man,  or  hear  his  outward  words,  or 
touch  his  outward  vesture.  That  is  not  himself. 
It  is  not  enough  that  you  walk  by  his  side,  or 
hear  others  talk  of  him  or  use  terms  of  affection 
and  endearment  toward  him.  You  must  go 
deeper  than  this ;  you  must  go  to  his  very  in- 
most heart,  to  the  very  core  and  marrow  of  his 
being.  You  must  not  only  read  and  understand, 
but  you  must  mark,  learn,  and  inwardly  digest, 
and  make  part  of  yourselves,  that  which  alone 
can  be  part  of  the  human  spirit  and  conscience. ' 
It  expresses,  with  regard  to  the  life  and  death  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  same  general  truth  as  is  ex- 
pressed when  St.  Paul  says,  '  Put  ye  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ' — that  is,  clothe  yourselves  with  his 
spirit  as  with  a  garment ;  or  again,  '  Let  the 
same  mind  be  in  you  that  was  in  Christ  Jesus.' 
It  is  the  same  general  truth  as  when  our  Lord 
himself  says,  '  I  am  the  vine ;  ye  are  the 
branches.'  " 

59,  60.  In  the  synagogue.  I  believe  the 
whole  discourse  to  have  been  delivered  in  the 
synagogue.  See  Prel.  Note  above. — Many  of 
his  disciples.    Not  of  the  twelve,  but  of  those 


94 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VI. 


60  Many  therefore  of  his  disciples,  when  they  had 
heard  this,  said,  This  is  an  hard  saying ;  who  can  hear 
it? 

61  When  Jesus  knew  in  himself  that  his  disciples 
murmured  at  it,  he  said  unto  them.  Doth  this  offend 
you? 

62  What  and  if  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  ascend'' 
up  where  he  was  before  ? 

63  It"  is  the  spirit  that  quickeneth;  the  flesh  profit- 


eth  nothing :  the  words  that  I  speak  unto  you,  they  are 
spirit,  and  they  are  life. 

64  But  there  are  some  of  you  that  believe  not.  For 
Jesus  knew  '^  from  the  beginning  who  they  were  that 
believed  not,  and  who  should  betray  him. 

65  And  he  said,  Therefore  said  I>  unto  you,  that  no 
man  can  come  unto  me,  except  it  were  given  unto  him 
of  my  Father. 

66  From  that  tinie  many  of  his  disciples  went  back,' 
and  walked  no  more  with  him. 


V  ch.  3  :  13 ;  Mark  16  :  19  ;  Ephes.  4  :  8-10. . .  .w  2  Cor.  3:6. 


!  Tim.  2.19 y  verses  44,  45. . .  z  Zeph.  1  ;  6 ;  Lul;e  9  :  62  ; 


who  had  been  theretofore  inclined  to  accept  him 
as  a  teacher. — This  is  a  hard  saying.  Rather, 
an  impioics  saying,  or  at  least  hard  in  the  sense  of 
harsh  and  repulsive,  rather  than  in  that  of  mere- 
ly difficult.  To  the  Jews  then,  as  to  the  world 
ever  since,  a  system  of  religion  which  proposes 
an  amelioration  of  condition  only  by  a  revolution 
of  moral  character,  by  a  new  and  divine  life, 
seemed  not  only  not  attractive,  but  repellent. — 
Who  can  hear  it  ?  That  is,  Who  can  stay  and 
listen  to  such  teaching  as  this  ? 

61-G3,  When  Jesus  knew  in  himself. 
Either  miraculously  or  by  a  subtle  sense  which 
the  delicately  organized  often  possess. — Doth 
this  offend  you  ?  Stumble  you.  See  Matt.  5  : 
29,  note  ;  11  :  6,  note.  The  teaching  of  the  dis- 
ciple, as  the  teaching  of  Christ,  will  sometimes 
be  to  men  a  stumbling-stone  and  a  rock  of  of- 
fence.— What  and  if  ye  shall  see  the  Son 
of  man  ascend  up  where  he  was  before  ? 
Another  admonition  that  they  are  not  to  take 
his  words  in  a  material  sense,  for  in  his  glorified 
body  he  is  to  ascend  into  heaven  before  their 
sight.  The  language  is  a  strong  testimony  to 
the  historical  verity  of  the  ascension.  —  The 
spirit  is  the  life-giver,  the  flesh  profiteth 
nothing  whatsoever ;  i.  e..  It  is  my  spirit  in 
your  spirit  which  will  give  eternal  life,  not  my 
flesh  in  your  ilesh.  This  is  the  natural  meaning 
of  these  words,  and  they  are  to  be  taken  in  their 
material  sense,  not  with  such  qualifications  as  that 
of  Augustine,  "The  flesh  alone  and  by  itself 
profiteth  not,"  i.  e.,  without  the  blessing  of  the 
spirit ;  or  such  as  that  of  Alford,  "  He  does  not 
say  my  flesh  profiteth  nothing,  but  tlie  flesh." 
The  flesh  is  my  flesh ;  for  it  is  only  of  hil  own 
flesh  that  he  has  spoken  at  all  in  this  discourse. 
The  flesh  of  Christ,  if  it  could  be  miraculously 
reproduced  by  the  benediction  of  a  priest,  would 
otill  be  of  no  profit. — The  words  which  I  have 
spoken  to  you,  they  are  spirit  and  they 
are  life.  The  meaning  is  not  that  Christ's 
words  are  themselves  life-giving,  though  this  is 
true  ;  but  that  the  words  which  he  has  just  spo- 
ken to  them  respecting  his  flesh  and  his  blood 
relate  to  the  spiritual  realm  and  the  eternal  life, 
and  are  to  be  so  interpreted. 

64,  65.  But  there  are  some  among  you 
who  have  not  faith.    Such  could  not  receive 


the  teaching  of  Christ,  for  it  is  true  in  spiritual 
as  in  physical  gifts,  according  to  one's  faith,  so 
is  Christ's  blessing  (.Matt.  9  :  29).  —  For  Jesus 
knew  from  the  beginning,  etc.  Compare 
this  distinct  statement  of  Christ's  foreknowledge 
with  Christ's  own  statement  of  the  limitations 
of  his  knowledge  in  Mark  13  :  3:3.  The  contrast 
illustrates  one  of  the  inexplicable  mysteries  of 
Christ's  nature,  whose  knowledge  transcended 
that  of  man,  yet  in  his  earthly  condition  was  less 
than  that  of  omniscience.  To  the  question.  Why, 
if  he  foreknew  the  betrayal  of  Judas,  did  he  or- 
dain him  as  an  apostle  ?  there  is  no  satisfactory 
answer.  The  problem  of  divine  foreknowledge 
and  human  free-will,  of  that  divine  law  the  in- 
flexibility of  which  science  has  in  these  later  days 
so  strikingly  demonstrated,  and  that  freedom  of 
moral  action  to  which  universal  consciousness  tes- 
tifies, is  one  which  transcends  the  Umits  of  the 
human  intellect. — Therefore  said  I  unto  you 
that  no  one  can  come  unto  me  except  it 
were  given  unto  him  of  my  Father.  Judas 
and  the  withdrawing  disciples  had,  in  a  sense, 
come  unto  him ;  they  had  followed  him,  ac- 
cepted him  as  their  Master,  and  had  given  him 
for  a  time  their  allegiance.  Yet  they  had  not 
really  come  to  him,  for  no  one  truly  comes  ex- 
cept he  is  drawn  by  a  divine  influence.  Tlierefore 
connects  the  declaration  of  ver.  4i  with  the  fact 
here  stated  that  some  of  the  disciples  were  with- 
out true  faith.  The  practical  warning  to  us  here 
is  this,  that  we  have  need  to  examine  ourselves 
that  we  may  know  whether  our  coming  to  Christ 
has  been  merely  that  of  a  natural  inclination  or 
that  of  obedience  to  the  impulse  of  the  Spirit  of 
God. 

66,  67.  From  this  many  of  his  disciples 
went  back.  From  this  indicates  both,  as  the 
English  version  represents,  the  time  from  which 
this  withdrawal  dated,  and  also  the  cause  from 
which  it  proceeded.  Observe  that  faithfid 
preaching  will  drive  some  apparent  disciples 
away  from  Christ.  The  minister,  like  his  Mas- 
ter, wUl  ever  have  the  fan  in  his  hand,  and  the 
gospel  which  he  preaches  mil  in  some  measure 
separate  the  chafE  from  the  grain.  This  was  illus- 
trated in  the  experience  of  the  apostle  Paul. 
See  Acts  13  :  44-46  ;  14  :  4 ;  17  :  13,  13,  etc.  "It 
wiU  never  be  possible  for  us  to  exercise  such 


Ch.  VIL] 


JOHN. 


95 


67  Then  said  Jesus  unto  the  twelve,  Will  ye  also  go 
away? 

68  Then  Simon  Peter  answered  him,  Lord,  to  whom 
shall  we  go  ?  thou  hast  the  "  words  of  eternal  life. 

6g  And  "  we  believe  and  are  sure  that  thou  art  that 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God. 

70  Jesus  answered  them.  Have  not  I  chosen  you 
twelve,  and  one  of  you  is  a^  devil  ? 

71  He  spake  of  Judas  Iscaxiot  the  son  of  Simon :  for 


he  it  was  that  should  betray  him,  being  one  of  the 
twelve. 

CHAPTER   VII. 

AFTER  these  things  Jesus  walked  in  Galilee  :  for 
he  would  not  walk  in  Jewry,  because  the  Jews 
sought  to  kill  him. 
2  Now  the  Jews'  feast  "i  of  tabernacles  was  at  hand. 


a  Acts  6  :  20  ;  7  :  38 ....  b  chaps.  1 :  29 ;  11  :  27 ;  Matt.  16  :  16 . . . .  c  ch.  13  :  27 d  Lev.  23  :  34. 


caution  that  the  doctrine  of  Christ  shall  not  be 
the  occasion  of  offence  to  many ;  because  the 
reprobate,  who  are  devoted  to  destruction,  suck 
venom  from  the  most  wholesome  food  and  gall 
from  honey.  The  Son  of  God  undoubtedly  knew 
what  was  useful,  and  yet  we  see  that  he  cannot 
avoid  offending  many  of  his  disciples." — {Calvin.) 
— Then  said  Jesus  also  to  the  twelve,  Ye 
do  not  also  wish  to  go  away  ?  The  tone  is 
one  of  pathetic  protest ;  the  language  that  of  one 
who  felt  keenly  the  desertion,  and  yearned  for 
an  expression  of  the  fidelity  of  his  immediate 
friends,  not  as  an  assurance,  for  he  knew  from 
the  beginning  who  believed  not,  and  therefore 
who  believed  and  would  endure,  but  as  an  utter- 
ance of  loyalty  and  love.  At  the  same  time  he 
leads  them  to  a  confession  which  draws  them 
more  closely  and  binds  them  more  tenderly  to 
himself. 

68, 69.  Then  Simon  Peter  answered. 
As  in  Matt.  16  :  16,  he  speaks  quickly,  for  all. — 
liOrd,  to  Avhom  shall  we  go?  To  go  away 
from  Christ  is  to  go  out  even  here  into  the  dark- 
ness ;  unto  loneliness,  hopelessness,  despair. — 
Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life.  As 
Martha's  utterance  of  her  faith  in  John  11  :  27, 
60  Peter's  declaration  here  is  not  wholly  respon- 
sive to  the  discourse  that  has  preceded.  He 
does  not  fully  comprehend  the  meaning  of  that 
personal  feeding  on  Christ  of  which  the  Lord  has 
been  speaking;  but  he  believes  that  Christ's 
words,  though  he  does  not  fully  understand 
them,  are  words  of,  that  is  full  of,  eternal  life, 
and  that  he  is  the  Messiah  and  the  Son  of  God. 
And  in  this  faith  he  is  content  to  await  humbly 
till  the  full  meaning  of  Christ's  enigmatical  dis- 
course shall  be  revealed  to  him,  as  it  could  not 
be  till  Christ's  death,  resurrection,  and  ascen- 
sion, and  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

70,  71,  Have  not  I  chosen  you  twelve? 
Chosen  them,  not  to  be  heirs  of  eternal  life,  but 
to  be  apostles ;  in  the  inner  circle  of  his  disci- 
ples ;  receiving  his  most  sacred  influence  and 
intimate  instruction. — And  one  of  you  is  a 
devil.  Not  </ie  devU  ;  not  merely  devilish ;  but 
belonging  to  the  kingdom  of  the  devil ;  one  of 
his  ministers  and  agents.  To  Christ  all  men  be- 
long to  either  the  one  or  the  other  kingdom. 
He  here,  as  it  were,  looks  forward  to  the  time 
when  Judas  should  have  gone  to  his  own  place, 


forecasts  his  future,  and  characterizes  him  in  the 
present  by  what  he  is  to  be  when  the  germinal 
sin,  now  in  him,  has  brought  forth  its  final  fruit. 
On  the  character  of  Judas  Iscariot,  see  Vol.  I,  p. 
307,  Note  on  character  and  career  of  Judas  Is- 
cariot. 


Ch.  7  :  1-52.  JESUS  AT  THE  FEAST  OP  TABERNA- 
CLES.    The  demand  of  the  UNBELrEVBB  FOB  AN  EX- 

HiBiTOBY  Chkist.— The  woeld  neveb  ebadt  foe  its 

BBFOEMEES  AND  EEGENEEATOES  ;  ALWAYS  READY  FOB 
THOSE  WHO  HAVE  FOR  IT  NO  MESSAGE.— ThE  TRUE  AU- 
THORITY AND  OEDINATION  OF  THE  CHEISTIAN  TEACHER. 
— Lay  PREACHING    SANCTIONED  BY    THE  EXAMPLE    OP 

Chbist. — The  law  of  the  Christian  Sabbath  and 

THE  LAW  OF  CHRISTIAN  JUDGMENT. — WHENCE  ChEIST 
COMETH  ;  WHITHER  HE  QOETH.— ThB  POWER  OF  FAITH  ; 
TO  RECEIVE  ;  TO  IMPART. — THE  MORAL  POWER  OF  ChBIST 
ILLUSTRATED. 

Pbeliminabt  Note. — Between  the  close  of  ch. 
6  and  the  beginning  of  ch.  7  occurred  a  period  of 
retirement,  employed  by  Christ  in  giving  to  his 
apostles  especial  instructions  concerning  the 
kingdom  of  God.  The  fullest  account  of  these 
instructions  is  afforded  in  Matthew,  chaps.  15, 
16,  17,  18.  During  this  time  occurred  the  heal- 
ing of  the  Syrophenician  woman's  daughter  and 
the  transfiguration.  The  public  ministry  of 
Christ  in  GalUee  was  substantially  brought  to  an 
end  by  his  sermon  in  the  synagogue  at  Caper- 
naum and  his  consequent  rejection  by  the  peo- 
ple. The  ministry  in  Judea  begins  with  this 
chapter  and  continues  to  ver.  39  of  the  tenth 
chapter,  verses  40-42  affording  a  concise  state- 
ment of  that  ministry  in  Perea,  of  which  Luke 
alone  gives  any  extended  account.  The  journey 
to  Jerusalem  mentioned  below  (ver.  lo)  is,  I  think 
erroneously,  identified  by  some  harmonists  with 
that  described  by  Luke,  ch.  9  :  51,  52.  That 
journey  was  immediately  before  his  passion,  and 
was  notably  public,  messengers  going  before  his 
face  to  prepare  the  way  for  him  ;  this  was  "  as  it 
were  in  secret,"  and  six  months  of  instruction  in 
Judea  and  Perea  intervened  between  it  and  his 
death.  See  Luke  9  :  51-56,  Prel.  Note,  and  Tab- 
ular Harmony,  Vol.  I,  p.  45. 

2-4.  Now  the  Jews'  feast  of  Taberna- 
cles was  at  hand.  This  was  one  of  the  three 
greater  festivals  to  be  observed  by  Israel.  It 
was  also  called  the  feast  of  Ingathering,  from 
the  fact  that  it  was  held  at  the  year's  end,  when 


96 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VIL 


3  His  brethren  therefore  said  unto  him,  Depart 
hence,  and  go  into  Judaea,  that  thy  disciples  also  may 
see  the  works  that  thou  doest. 

4  For  there  is  no  man  that  death  anything  in  secret, 


and  he  himself  seeketh  to  be  known  openly.    If  thou 
do  these  things,  shew  thyself  to  the  world. 

5  For  neither  did  his  brethren  ^  believe  in  him. 

6  Then  Jesus  said  unto  them,  Myf  time  is  not  yet 
come :  but  your  time  is  alway  ready. 


e  Mark  3  :  21 ....  f  verses  8,  30 ;  cliaps.  2  :  4 ;  8  : 


all  the  labors  of  the  field  were  consummated.  It 
thus  resembled  nearly  our  own  Thanksgiving 
Day.  It  commenced  on  the  fifteenth  of  the  sev- 
enth month,  answering  to  our  October,  and  lasted 
seven  days.  It  was  instituted  to  commemorate 
the  dwelling  in  tents  when  in  the  desert ;  accord- 
ingly, while  the  feast  lasted  the  people  dwelt  in 
booths  or  tents  placed  on  the  flat  roofs  of  the 


BOOTH  ON   THE  HOUSETOP. 

houses,  in  the  courts  of  the  temple,  and  in  the 
squares  and  open  places,  and  the  streets  when 
their  width  allowed.  The  particular  sacrifices 
to  be  offered  are  detailed  in  Num.  29  : 1-38,  and 
notices  of  the  observance  are  to  be  found  in  Neh. 
8  :  13-18;  Hos.  12  :  9;  Zech,  14  :  16-19.— His 
brethren.  Their  names  are  given  in  Matt.  13  : 
55.  I  believe  his  half  brothers,  children  of  Jo- 
seph and  Mary,  are  intended.  See  Note  on 
Brethren  of  the  Lord,  Vol.  I,  p.  187.— That  thy 
disciples  also  may  see  the  Avorks  that 
thou  doest.  This  was  after  the  commission, 
the  missionary  tour,  and  the  return  of  the  twelve 
(Matt.,  ch.  lo),  through  whose  ministry  probably 
many  had  become  in  a  certain  loose  sense  disci- 
ples of  our  Lord,  regarding  him  as  a  Jewish 
rabbi,  and  perhaps  as  an  inspired  prophet,  who 
had  never  seen  him  personally,  The  language 
of  Christ's  brothers  is  that  of  contempt.    Leave 


this  province,  said  they,  and  go  up  into  Judea, 
the  religious  centre  of  the  Holy  Land,  and  show 
yourself  to  those  who  have  heard  of  you,  and 
exhibit  to  them  what  you  can  do.  Additional 
significance  is  given  to  this  language  if  we  re- 
member that  it  was  used  after  a  period  of  retire- 
ment of  more  than  six  months.  See  above. — 
For  no  one  does  anything  in  secret,  and 
yet  seeks  himself  to  be  frank  and  open 
(Iv  na^i)-i\aia).  The  intimation  is  that  the  reason 
why  Jesus  does  not  make  more  public  exhibition 
of  himself  and  his  work  is  that  he  is  deceiving 
the  people.  His  brothers  attempt  to  compel  him 
to  adopt  their  policy  by  imputing  to  him,  be- 
cause of  his  course,  a  lack  of  frankness  and  fear- 
lessness.— If  thou  do  these  things,  show 
thyself  to  the  world,  if  implies  a  doubt.  In 
a  worldly  view  the  policy  of  these  brothers 
would  seem  wise ;  but  it  was  really,  in  a  more 
subtle  form,  the  policy  suggested  by  Satan  in  the 
second  temptation  (Matt.  4  : 5-7).  Christ  would  be 
accepted  by  faith  and  love,  not  by  wonder  and 
fear ;  for  the  sake  of  his  truth,  not  because  of 
his  miracles.  These  he  persistently  refused  to 
show  to  the  world  as  a  means  of  compelling  al- 
legiance. 

5.  For  neither  had  his  brethren  faith  in 
him.  This  verse  seems  to  me  quite  conclusive 
that  none  of  the  brethren  here  mentioned  were 
among  the  twelve,  and  therefore  that  James, 
Simon,  and  Judas,  the  brethren  of  the  Lord, 
cannot  be  the  apostles  who  bore  the  same  name. 
They  afterward  became  believers  (Acts  1  :  14 ;  1  cor. 
9 : 5).  They  may  at  this  time  have  recognized 
that  Jesus  possessed  extraordinary  powers,  with- 
out recognizing  in  him  the  Messiah,  or  even  an 
inspired  teacher,  whose  instructions  they  were 
willing  to  follow.  "  They  expected  him  to  make 
a  startling  exhibition  of  his  power  to  the  eye. 
They  did  not  believe  in  Him  ;  for  faith  rests  upon 
that  which  is  not  seen ;  it  confesses  an  tnM'ard 
vital  power." — (Maurice.) 

6-9.  My  time  is  not  yet ;  but  your  time 
is  always  prepared.  The  context  indicates 
the  meaning.  They  had  urged  him  to  show  him- 
self to  the  world  ;  his  answer  is.  My  time  to  show 
myself  to  the  world  is  not  yet.  This  manifesta- 
tion of  himself  is  gradual  and  successive ;  he 
partially  manifested  himself  in  the  discourse  de- 
livered in  Jerusalem  at  this  very  feast  (see  vers,  le, 
18, 28,  29, 37, 3s) ;  morc  fully  by  his  subsequent  dis- 
courses in  the  temple  during  the  Passion  week 
(Matthew,  chaps.  21, 22, 23) ;  Still  morc  fully  by  hls  cru- 


Ch.  VII.] 


JOHN. 


97 


7  Thes  world  cannot  hate  you  ;  but  me  it  hateth,  be- 
cause 1  testify  of  it,  tliat  tiie  works  thereof  are  evil. 

8  Go  }'e  up  unto  this  feast :  1  go  not  up  yet  unto  this 
feast ;  for  my  time  is  not  yet  fullcome. 

9  VVhen  he  had  said  these  words  unto  them,  he  abode 
still  in  Galilee. 

10  But  when  his  brethren  were  gone  up,  then  went 
he  also  up  unto  the  feast,  not  openly,  but  as  it  were  in 
secret. 


11  Then'>  the  Jews  sought  him  at  the  feast,  and  said, 
Where  is  he  ? 

12  And'  there  was  much  murmuring  among  the  peo- 
ple concerning  him  :  for  some  said,  He  is  a  good  man  : 
others  said.  Nay  ;  but  he  deceiveth  the  people. 

i^  Howbeit,  no  man  spake  openly  of  him,  for  fear 
of  the  Jews. 

14  Now  about  the  midst  of  the  feast,  Jesus  went  up 
into  the  temple,  and  taught. 


;  ch.  15  :  19 h  ch.  11  :  56 i  ch.  9  :  16. 


ciflxion,  in  whicli  was  disclosed  that  love  which 
is  the  wisdom  and  power  of  God  unto  salvation 
(i  Cor.  1 :  24),  and  in  which,  even  at  the  time  and  by 
the  manner  of  his  death,  his  divine  Sonship  was 
revealed  to  the  Roman  centurion  (Mark  15 :  39) ;  yet 
again  by  his  resurrection  from  the  dead  (Acts  2 : 
32-16 ;  3  :  15) ;  increasingly  in  the  ages  since,  by  his 
personal  presence  and  power  in  the  church  (Matt. 
28 :  18, 20 ;  Rom.  1 : 3, 4) ;  a  manifestation  to  be  finally 
consummated  when  he  is  revealed  from  heaven 

in  his  second    coming  (Matt.  24  :  27  ;    Col.  3  :  4  ;    2  Xhess. 

I  : 7).  For  this  final  coming  the  church  is  ever 
preparing  the  world,  casting  up  a  highway  for 
him ;  and  not  till  this  highway  is  completed  and 
he  comes  again  shall  all  flesh  see  the  salvation  of 
God  (Luke  3 :  4-6).  The  time  of  his  brothers  was 
always  prepared ;  for  the  world  is  always  ready 
for  him  who  has  no  message  for  it.  "  If  I, "  said 
Luther,  "would  speak  what  the  Papists  like  to 
hear,  I  would  be  very  glad,  too,  to  take  lodgings 
with  the  Bishop  of  Magdeburg  at  Rome. "  "The 
Son  of  man  feels  all  the  difference  between  those 
whose  time  was  always  ready,  who  could  go  up 
to  the  feasts  whenever  it  pleased  them,  merely 
with  the  expectation  of  meeting  friends  and 
mixing  in  a  crowd,  and  him  who  had  the  strait- 
ening consciousness  of  a  message  which  he  must 
bear,  of  a  baptism  which  he  must  be  baptized 
with."— (J/awrite.) — The  world  cannot  hate 
you,  etc.  Comp.  chaps.  15  :  18 ;  17  :  14  ;  1  John 
3  :  13 ;  Luke  6  :  2G.  He  that  would  preach  the 
gospel  of  salvation  to  the  world  must  first  testify 
of  it  that  its  deeds  are  evil.  The  Holy  Spirit 
convinces  the  world  of  righteousness  only  after 
convincing  it  of  sin  (john  le :  8, 9).  For  illustrations 
of  Christ's  preaching  against  the  works  of  the 
world,  see  Matt.  5  :  20 ;  6  :  1,  3,  5,  16 ;  7  :  32 ; 

II  :  16-34;  13  :  39-45  ;  Luke  6  :  46  ;  10  :  13-16  ; 
11  :  45-54;  13  :  54-57,  etc.  A  study  of  the 
preaching  of  Christ  and  the  apostles,  and  of  the 
writings  of  Paul,  will  show  that  the  divine 
method  is  always  to  convince  of  sin  as  a  prepara- 
tion for  proclaiming  the  good  news  of  salvation 
from  it. — I  go  not  unto  this  feast.  The  word 
yet  is  not  in  the  original,  though  it  probably  cor- 
rectly interprets  the  real  meaning  of  Christ's 
answer.  This  was  not,  I  shall  not  go  (future), 
but,  /  am  not  now  going  (present).  Perhaps 
Christ  did  not  know  whether  he  should  go  or 
not ;  he  who  acted  constantly  under  the  guidance 
of  the  Divine  Spirit  may  not  have  received  guid- 


ance on  this  point.  It  would  at  all  events  have 
defeated  his  purpose  to  have  gone  up  with  those 
who  were  determined  that  he  should  make  an 
exhibition  of  himself  and  his  work.  There  is  no 
ground  for  either  the  reproach  that  he  deceived 
his  brethren,  or  that  he  acted  in  a  fickle  manner 
in  subsequently  going  up  to  the  feast. 

10-13.  Not  openly,  but  as  it  Avere  in 
secret.  Not  secretly,  but  as  if  in  secret,  that  is, 
quietly,  unostentatiously,  incognito,  in  contrast 
to  the  way  in  which  his  brothers  wished  him  to 
go  up.  "Not  in  the  company  of  a  caravan  of 
pilgrims  or  in  any  other  way  of  outward  obser- 
vation, but  so  that  the  journey  to  that  feast  is 
represented  as  made  in  secrecy,  and  consequently 
quite  differently  from  his  last  entry  at  the  feast  of 
the  Passover." — (Meyer.)  The  description  of  this 
journey  to  Jerusalem  renders  it  improbable  that  it 
is  to  be  identified  with  the  journey  described  in 
Luke  9 :  51,  53.  See  Prel.  Note.— Then  the  Jews 
sought  him.  By  the  Jews  John  generally  if  not 
invariably  means  the  inhabitants  of  Judea,  in 
contradistinction  to  the  other  inhabitants  of  the 
Holy  Land.  See  ch.  6  :  41,  note. — Where  is 
that  fellow  (iy.€ivoe)  ?  The  language  is  derisive. 
"Thus  contemptuously  can  they  speak  of  the 
man,  that  they  cannot  name  him." — (Luther.) — 
And  there  Avas  much  murmuring.  The 
original  (Yoyyvafiog)  implies  suppressed  discourse. 
— Some  indeed  said.  The  Greek  particle 
which  I  have  rendered  indeed  (uir)  implies  a  con- 
cession, at  the  same  time  pointing  forward  to 
something  antithetic.  The  implication  is  that 
among  the  Judeans  the  believers  were  a  minori- 
ty.— No !  but  he  deceiveth  the  people.  He 
that  is  popular  with  the  multitude  is  generally 
looked  upon  with  aversion  by  the  hierarchy. — 
No  one  spoke  openly.  "Both mistrusted  the 
hierarchy  ;  even  those  hostUe  in  their  judgment 
were  afraid,  so  long  as  they  had  not  given  their 
oflScial  decision,  that  their  verdict  might  be  re- 
versed. A  true  indication  of  an  utterly  Jesuiti- 
cal domination  of  the  people." — (Meyer.)  Hos- 
tility to  Christianity  fears  nothing  so  much  as 
free  discussion  ;  and  it  quite  accords  with  human 
nature  that  the  consideration  of  Christ's  claims 
by  the  people  at  all  should  be  dreaded  by  the 
priesthood.  The  interpretation  of  Alford,  Go- 
det,  Tholuck,  and  others,  that  only  the  friends 
of  Christ  feared  to  speak  openly,  is  in  direct  con- 
flict with  the  explicit  language  of  the  narrative. 


98 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VII. 


15  And '  the  Jews  marvelled,  saying,  How  knoweth 
this  man  letters,  having  never  learned  ? 

16  Jesus  answered  them,  and  said.  My  doctrine  is 
not''  mine,  but  his  that  sent  me. 

17  If  any  man  will  do  Ms  will,  he  shall  know  of  the 


doctrine,  whether  it  be  of  God,  or  ■whether'  I  speak  of 
myself. 

18  He"  that  speaketh  of  himself  seeketh  his  own 
glory :  but  he  that "  seeketh  his  glory  that  sent  him,  the 
same  is  true,  and  no  unrighteousness  is  in  him. 


j  Matt.  13  :  54. . .  .k  chaps.  8  :  28  ;  la  :  49. . .  .1  ch.  8  :  43. . .  .m  ch.  8  :  50. . .  .n  Prov.  25  :  27. 


Maurice  pictures  the  scene  well:  "It  is  a  hum 
of  voices.  There  is  a  fear  of  something,  the  peo- 
ple do  not  well  know  of  what.  It  is  a  fear  of  the 
Jews ;  the  apostle  says  each  fears  the  other. 
There  is  a  concentrated  Jewish  feeling  in  the 
Sanhedrim,  among  the  rulers,  which  all  tremble 
at.  Till  that  has  been  pronounced — above  all, 
while  there  is  a  suspicion  that  it  will  come  forth 
in  condemnation — it  is  not  wise  for  any  to  com- 
mit themselves.  Brethren,  do  we  not  know  that 
this  is  a  true  story  ?  Must  it  not  have  happened 
in  Jerusalem  then,  for  would  it  not  happen  in 
London  now  ? ' ' 

14,  15.  About  the  midst  of  the  feast. 
Bengel  calculates  that  on  this  year  the  middle  of 
the  feast  would  be  the  Sabbath  ;  the  temple  would 
in  that  case  be  especially  crowded,  and  the  day 
would  suggest  the  remarks  respecting  the  Sab- 
bath.— Jesus  went  up  into  the  temple  and 
taught.  He  came  to  Judea  privately,  he  went 
into  the  temple  publicly ;  he  would  not  exhibit 
himself,  he  would  not  conceal  his  doctrine. — 
And  the  Judeans  marvelled,  saying.  The 
form  of  the  question  which  follows  indicates  a 
hostile  spirit ;  but  it  may  have  been  raised,  not 
by  the  scribes  or  teachers  (Ifeijer,  Alford),  but 
by  the  people  {Tholuck). — Hoav  knoweth  this 
fellow  learning,  never  having  been 
taught  ?  "A  rule  analogous  to  that  which  still 
prevails  in  most  church  communions  forbade 
any  rabbi  to  teach  new  truths  except  he  was  a 
regular  graduate  of  one  of  the  theological 
schools.  He  might  catechise,  but  he  could  not 
preach.  This  rule  the  Jews  cited  against  Jesus. 
'How,'  said  they  contemptuously,  'does  this 
man  know  anything  of  sacred  literature,  being 
no  graduate?'"  —  {AbboWs  Jesus  of  Nazareth.) 
Letters  (younua)  is  here  the  sacred  writings  of 
the  Jews,  i.  e.,  the  sacred  Scriptures  and  the 
comments  thereon.  This  question  affords  the 
key  to  the  interpretation  of  the  discourse  which 
follows,  which  is  upon  the  authority,  primarily 
of  Christ,  secondarily  of  every  Christian  teacher, 
an  authority  derived,  not  from  theological  schools 
or  clerical  ordination,  but  from  the  indwelling 
Spirit  of  God.  Christ  was  himself  a  "  lay  preach- 
er ; "  his  example  and  his  precept  alike  sanction 
unordained  preaching. 

16,  17.  My  teaching  is  not  mine,  but  his 
that  sent  me.  For  cloctri7ie  read  teaching ;  for 
not  merely  the  subject-matter  taught,  but  the 
power  with  which  it  was  presented,  was  divine. 
3fy  teaching  is  not  mine  is  not  a  hyperbole.     It  is 


not  merely  equivalent  to  "not  acquired  by  any 
labor  on  my  part  in  learning"  (Bengel),  or  "not 
an  invention  of  my  own"  [Oeikie).  Neither  in 
origin  nor  in  aim  was  Christ's  teaching  his  own. 
Ever  about  his  Father's  business,  he  was  ever 
teaching  his  Father's  words  and  doing  his  Fa- 
ther's works  (ch.  5 :  19, 30).  In  a  sense  every  true 
Christian  teacher  should  be  able  to  repeat  this 
saying  of  Christ  (chaps.  14  :  26;  v; :  13).  It  does  not 
follow  that  the  Christian  teacher  need  not  be  a 
Christian  student ;  but  it  does  follow  that  he 
should  be  a  student  only  of  those  things  which 
enable  him  better  to  understand  and  interpret 
the  Father's  will  and  nature.  Only  so  far  as 
schools  of  theological  thought  helj)  him  to  do 
this  are  they  truly  Christian  schools. — If  any 
one  wills  to  do  his  will,  he  shall  know 
concerning  the  teaching,  Avhether  it  be 
of  God  or  Avhether  I  speak  of  myself.  An 
often  misunderstood  declaration.  The  promise 
is  not  that  if  any  man  does  God's  will  all  theolo- 
gy shall  be  made  clear  to  him,  nor  even  that  he 
shall  be  brought  to  a  correct  apprehension  of  the 
most  important  truths  of  the  Christian  system. 
The  last  clause  qualifies  tlie  first ;  the  declaration 
is  that  if  any  man  purposes  to  do  God's  will, 
makes  that  his  ultimate  and  supreme  choice  (1  Tim. 
6  •  11-16),  he  shall  know  respecting  Christianity 
whether  it  is  of  divine  or  human  origin.  The  dec- 
laration is  both  a  promise  and  the  enunciation  of 
a  spiritual  law.  The  purpose  to  do  God's  will 
itself  clarifies  the  spiritual  sight,  so  that  the  soul 
recognizes  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  life,  the  char- 
acter, and  the  teachings  of  his  Son.  The  degree 
of  advancement  which  one  subsequently  makes 
in  comprehending  the  full  significance  of  those 
teachings  will  depend  partly  upon  the  purity  of 
his  spiritual  purposes,  but  partly  upon  other 
conditions.  Not  the  mere  outward  obedience  to 
God's  commandments,  but  a  true  spiritual  pur- 
pose, is  declared  to  be  the  condition  of  spiritual 
hght ;  and  to  that  purpose  is  attached,  not  a 
promise  of  all  light,  but  only  of  so  much  as  will 
enable  the  soul  to  know  the  source  from  which 
it  may  obtain  constantly  increasing  illumination. 
Nevertheless,  the  first  step  toward  the  solution 
of  any  theological  diflSculty  whatever,  is  repent- 
ance of  sin  and  practical  obedience  to  the  voice 
of  God  in  the  soul.  Except  a  man  be  born  again 
he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God. 

18,  19.  He  that  speaketh  from  himself 
seeketh  his  own  glory.  From  (and)  repre- 
sents the  remote  cause ;  out  of  («x)  represents 


Ch.  VII.] 


JOHN. 


99 


19  Did  not  Moses  "  give  you  the  law,  and  yet  none  p 
of  you  keepeth  the  law?  Why  go  ye  about  to  kilH 
me  ? 

20  The  people  answered  and  said/  Thou  hast  a 
devil :  who  goeth  about  to  kill  thee  ? 

21  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  I  have  done 
one  work,  anil  ye  all  marvel. 

22  Moses "  therefore  gave  unto  you  circumcision ; 


(not  because  it  is  of  Moses,  but '  of  the  fathers  ;)  and 
ye  on  the  sabbath  day  circumcise  a  man. 

23  If  a  man  on  the  sabbath  day  receive  circumcision, 
that  the  law  of  Moses  should  not  be  broken  ;  are  ye 
angry  at  me,  because"  I  have  made  a  man  every  whit 
whole  on  the  sabbath  day  ? 

24  J  udge "  not  according  to  the  appearance,  but  judge 
righteous  judgment. 


o  Johnl  :  17;  Gal.  3:  19.... p  Rom.  3  :  10-19 q  cb.  5  :  16,  18;  Matt.  12  :  14.... 

V  Deiit.  1  :  IB,  17. 


ch.  8  ;  48 3  Lev.  12:3 t  Gen.  17  :  lu u  ch.  5  :  8. 


the  more  immediate  cause.  The  former  refers 
to  what  is  general,  the  latter  to  what  is  special. 
See  Roh,  Lex.^  unu.  Every  Christian  teacher 
must  speak  out  of  himself,  i.  e.,  out  of  his  own 
experience  of  truth  internally  possessed  and  be- 
come a  part  of  his  nature ;  but  no  Christian 
teacher  may  speak J'rom  himself,  L  e.,  of  his  own 
notions  and  by  his  own  authority.  The  inward 
experience  out  of  which  he  speaks  is  powerful 
only  as  it  is  derived  from  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Egotism  is  the  natural  expression  of  him  who 
speaks  from  himself,  and  has  not  the  rhetorical 
skill  to  conceal  the  inherent  weakness. — But  he 
that  seeketh  his  glory  that  sent  him,  the 
same  is  true,  and  uo  unrighteousness  is  in 
him.  This  is  a  general  proposition.  In  so  far 
as  any  one  seeks  the  divine  glory  he  is  preserved 
both  from  error  and  from  unrighteousness  (Rom. 
8:1,2;  1  John  1 ;  5, 7 ;  3:6).  Christ  IS  the  ouly  One  who 
is  absolutely  true,  and  in  whom  is  no  unright- 
eousness, because  he  is  the  only  one  in  whom 
there  is  no  self-seeking. — Did  not  Moses  give 
you  the  law,  etc.  The  connection  is  well  given 
by  Alford:  "There  is  a  close  connection  with 
the  foregoing.  The  wUl  to  do  his  will  was  to  be 
the  great  key  to  a  true  appreciation  of  his  teach- 
ing ;  but  of  this  there  was  no  example  among 
the)7i ;  and  therefore  it  was  that  they  were  no 
fair  judges  of  the  teaching,  but  bitter  opponents 
and  persecutors  of  Jesus,  of  whom,  had  they 
been  anxious  to  fulfil  the  law,  they  would  have 
been  earnest  and  humble  disciples"  (ch.  5 :  46). — 
Why  go  ye  about  to  kill  me  ?  The  reference 
is  to  the  purposed  assassination  at  a  previous 
visit  to  Jerusalem  (ch.  5  :  is),  a  purpose  from 
■which  the  Pharisees  had  evidently  not  relented 

{ch.  7  :  1). 

20-24.  Thou  hast  a  devil ;  who  goeth 
about  to  kill  thee  ?  It  is  evident  from  ver. 
25  that  some  of  his  auditors  knew  the  secret  de- 
sign which  had  been  formed  for  Christ's  assassi- 
nation. Their  language  here  is  that  of  foulest 
abuse.  I  judge  then  that  they  were  startled  by 
Christ's  sudden  revealing  of  the  secret  designs 
against  him  ;  and  with  that  inconsistency  which 
is  common  to  the  self-condemned,  they  in  the 
same  sentence  denied  that  his  death  had  been 
compassed,  and  implied  that  the  fact  th.at  it  was 
compassed  had  been  disclosed  to  him  by  an  evil 
spirit  which  possessed  him. — Jesus  answered 
*    *    *    *    I  have  done  one  work,  and  ye 


all  marvel.  The  work  referred  to  is  that  de- 
scribed in  the  fifth  chapter  of  John,  the  only 
miracle  in  Jerusalem  up  to  this  time  which  is 
described  in  detail ;  not  the  only  one  which  he 
had  wrought  (chaps.  2  :  23 ;  3 : 2),  but  presumptively 
the  last  one.  They  wondered  not  at  the  miracle, 
but  at  the  fact  that  he  had  performed  it  on  the 
Sabbath  day  (ch.  5 :  le).  It  is  not  necessary  to  give 
to  the  word  wonder  here  any  accessory  idea,  as 
of  doubt  {Bengel)  or  disquietude  ( Chrysostom) ; 
Christ  begins  with  the  mildest  characterization 
of  their  sentiment  as  that  of  mere  surprise. 
Here,  as  habitually,  he  does  not  proceed  to  se- 
vere language  till  milder  language  has  proved 
unavailing. — Moses  therefore  gave  unto  you 
circumcision.  There  is  some  doubt  whether 
the  word  therefore  belongs  to  this  or  to  the  pre- 
ceding verse ;  i.  e.,  whether  Christ  says,  /  have 
done  07ie  work,  and  ye  all  therefore  marvel,  or,  Moses 
therefore  gave  unto  you  circumcision,  riot  because  it 
is  of  Moses,  but  of  the  fathers.  The  latter  reading 
is  preferred  by  the  later  scholars,  e.  g.,  Bengel, 
Meyer,  Alford,  against  Olshausen,  Tholuck. 
Either  is  grammatically  possible  ;  and  the  pure- 
ly grammatical  considerations  appear  to  me  to 
be  about  equally  balanced.  The  latter  inter- 
pretation is  preferable,  because  it  gives  a  better 
meaning  to  the  sentence.  Accepting  this  ren- 
dering, the  meaning  appears  to  be,  Moses  gave 
unto  you  circumcision  for  this  reason,  viz.,  be- 
cause it  was  patriarchal,  not  because  it  originated 
with  him.  And  this  statement  of  the  reason  of 
the  Mosaic  law  respecting  circumcision  affords  a 
basis  for  the  argument  which  follows.  It  was  a 
saying  of  the  rabbis  "that  circumcision  drives 
away  the  Sabbath,"  and  they  held  that  the  rite, 
notwithstanding  the  work  which  it  necessarily 
entailed,  might  be  performed  on  the  Sabbath 
day,  because  it  was  of  patriarchal  origin,  and  so 
antedated  the  Mosaic  institution  of  the  Sabbath. 
Christ,  referring  to  this  fact,  convicts  the  Jews 
of  inconsistency  in  being  angry  with  him  for 
placing  the  law  of  mercy  above  the  law  of  the 
Sabbath.  For  the  law  of  mercy  was  older  than 
either ;  it  belongs  to  the  eternal  law  of  God's 
nature. — That  the  law  of  Moses  should  not 
be  broken.  That  law  prescribed  that  circum- 
cision should  be  performed  on  the  eighth  day 
(Lev.  12 : 3) ;  to  allow  that  day  to  pass  by,  there- 
fore, without  circumcision  would  be  a  breach  of 
the  law. — Because  I  have  made  an  entire 


100 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VII. 


25  Then  said  some  of  them  of  Jerusalem,  Is  not  this 
he,  whom  they  seek  to  kill  ? 

26  But,  lo.  he  speaketh  boldly,  and  thej^  say  nothing 
unto  him.  Do  *  the  rulers  know  indeed  that  this  is  the 
very  Christ  ? 

27  Howbeit  ^  we  know  this  man  whence  he  is:  but 
when  Christ  cometh,  no  man  knoweth  whence  he  is. 


28  Then  cried  Jesus  in  the  temple  as  he  taught,  say- 
ing. Ye  both  know  me,  and  ye  know  whence  I  am : 
and  y  1  am  not  come  of  myself,  but  he  that  sent  me  ^  is 
true,  whom  "  ye  know  not. 

29  But ''  I  know  him  :  for  I  am  from  him,  and  he  hath 
sent  me. 

30  Then  ^  they  sought  to  take  him  :  but  no  man  laid 
hands  on  him,  because  his  hour  was  not  yet  come. 


verse  48.... x  Matl.  13;55....y  ch.  6  :43....: 


Rom.  3:4 a  chaps.  1  :  18  ;  8  : 

Mark  11  :  18  ;  Luke  20  :  19. 


.1  ch.  10:15;   Matt.  11  :  27. . .  .c  ch.  8  :  37  ; 


man  {"Aov  ur&QWTtoy)  well  on  the  Sabbath 
day.  We  can  hardly  suppose,  with  Bengel  and 
Olshausen,  that  the  entire  man  here  signifies  the 
healing  of  both  soul  and  body  ;  for  there  is  no 
evidence  in  the  original  account  that  the  physical 
was  accompanied  with  a  spiritual  healing,  and 
no  likelihood  that  Christ's  auditors  would  have 
understood  him  here  to  refer  to  spiritual  healing. 
The  contrast  rather  seems  to  be  between  circum- 
cision as  an  act  of  wounding,  which  brought 
only  ceremonial  cleanness,  and  the  miracle  at  the 
pool  of  Bethesda,  which  gave  relief  from  the 
consequences  of  sin  (ch.  5 :  u),  and  gave  health  to 
the  whole  body. — Judge  not  according  to 
appearance,  but  judge  righteous  judg- 
ment. See  Zech.  7  :  9.  One  of  Christ's  Sabbath 
laws  ;  we  are  ourselves  to  avoid,  but  we  are  not  to 
condemn  in  others,  the  appearance  of  evil.  What 
is  Sabbath  observance  and  what  Sabbath  trans- 
gression is  to  be  determined,  not  by  the  external 
act,  but  by  the  inward  motive  and  the  ultimate 
end. 

25-27.  Then  said  some  of  them  of  Jeru- 
salem. Residents  of  Jerusalem,  who  were 
therefore  more  likely  than  the  pilgrim  strangers 
to  know  the  designs  of  the  hierarchy. — Whom 
they  seek  to  kill.  See  chaps.  5  :  IS  ;  7  :  19,  32. 
— Surely  {lu'irton)  the  rulers  do  not  know 
that  this  is  indeed  the  Messiah  ?  The  form 
of  the  sentence  is  an  inquiry,  strongly  implying  a 
negative  answer. — Howbeit  as  to  this  fel- 
low, we  know  whence  he  is ;  but  when 
the  3Iessiah  cometh,  no  man  knoweth 
whence  he  is.  It  is  true  that  prophecy  fore- 
told that  the  Messiah  should  be  born  in  Bethle- 
hem (Micah  5:2;  Matt.  2:6);  but  according  to  the 
Rabbinical  teaching  he  was  straightway  to  be 
snatched  away  by  spirits  and  tempests,  lie  hid- 
den for  a  while,  and  unexpectedly  and  supernat- 
urally  reappear  to  enter  upon  his  miraculous 
mission  (ughtfoot  on  Matt.  2 :  i).  The  people  here 
bore  an  unconscious  testimony  to  the  Messiah- 
ship  of  Jesus  ;  for  they  neither  knew  his  earthly 
nor  his  heavenly  origin.  They  believed  him  who 
was  born  in  Bethlehem  to  be  a  native  of  Naza- 
reth, and  the  Son  of  God  to  be  the  son  of  a  car- 
penter. 

28,29.  Then  Jesus  cried  aloud  teaching 
in  the  temple,  and  said.  Ye  do  indeed 
know  me,  and  ye  know  whence   I  am ; 


and  I  am  not  come  of  myself,  but  it  is  the 
True  One  who  hath  sent  me;  him  ye  do 
not  know.  I  know  him,  for  I  have  come 
from  him,  and  he  it  is  that  hath  sent  me 
forth.  As  I  read  it,  this  is  one  of  those  out- 
bursts of  indignation  with  which  we  occasionally 
meet  in  the  teachings  of  Christ.  The  obduracy 
and  resoluteness  in  evil  of  the  Jews  aroused  his 
indignation  and  elicited  his  stern  rebuke.  Comp. 
chaps.  8  :  41,  44 ;  9  :  41 ;  Matthew,  ch.  23.  I  un- 
derstand then  his  language  to  be  neither  ironical 
nor  interrogative,  but  affirmative,  and  not  to 
refer  to  his  human  nature  and  origin,  but  to  his 
divine  character  and  mission.  In  his  miracles 
and  his  instructions  they  had  seen  and  heard 
enough  to  assure  them  that  he  was  from  God 
(chaps.  3  :  2 ;  11  :  47,  4s).  Their  coutemptuous  decla- 
ration, We  know  this  felloio,  he  transformed  into 
an  indictment  against  them.  They  had  whis- 
pered it ;  he  proclaimed  it  aloud.  "  Ye  do  know 
me,"  he  says,  "and  ye  know  whence  I  am,  for 
the  authentication  of  my  divine  mission  is  ample. 
Ye  do  know  that  I  am  not  come  of  myself,  for 
my  whole  life  is  a  conclusive  demonstration  that 
I  am  not  a  self-seeker."  The  True  One  is  not 
equivalent  to  the  Truthful  One  nor  the  Really 
Existent  One  merely,  but  the  One  True  God 

(2  Chron.  15  :  3;   Jer.  10  :  10  ;   John  17  :  3;    1  Thess.  1  :  9;    1  John 

5 :  2o).  Him  they  did  not  and  could  not  know, 
because  the  knowledge  of  God  is  only  for  the 
pure  in  heart  (Matt.  5 : 8).  Jesus  knew  him,  for  he 
had  been  his  companion  from  eternity.  In  a 
sense  we  are  all  from  God,  but  not  in  the  sense 
in  which  Christ  here  indicates  that  he  is  from 
God.  The  preposition  used  {nanu}  has  the  sense 
of  from  beside,  from  near,  French  de  chez  (Rob. 
Lex.).  The  declaration  is  interpreted  by  ch.  1:1; 
Phil.  2  :  6.  The  public  exposure  of  their  whis- 
pered contempt,  the  equally  public  exposure  of 
the  secret  thought  of  their  own  hearts,  which 
they  had  not  themselves  read  as  clearly  as  Christ 
read  it  for  them,  and  the  tone  of  fearless  as- 
sumption in  which  he  at  once  claimed  to  be  the 
companion  of  the  Only  True  God  and  declared 
that  they  did  not  even  know  Him,  whose  peculiar 
people  it  was  their  peculiar  boast  to  be,  angered 
the  Judeans,  and  especially  the  hierarchy,  and 
led  to  the  unsuccessful  attempt  to  arrest  Jesus 
recorded  in  the  succeeding  verse. 
30,  31.  They  sought  therefore  to  arrest 


€h.  VIL] 


JOHN. 


101 


31  And  many  "^  of  the  people  believed  on  him,  and 
said,  When  Christ  cometh,  will  he  do  more  miracles 
than  these  which  this  man  hath  done  ? 

32  The  Pharisees  heard  that  the  people  murmured 
such  things  concerning  him  ;  and  the  Pharisees  and  the 
■chief  priests  sent  officers  to  take  him. 


33  Then  said  Jesus  unto  them,  Yet  «  a  little  while  am 
I  with  you,  and  then  I  go  unto  him  that  sent  me. 

34  Ye  f  shall  seek  me,  and  shall  not  find  me :  and 
where  I  am,  tkitker  y&  cannot  come. 

35  Then  said  the  Jews  among  themselves.  Whither 
will  he  go,  that  we  shall  not  tind  him  ?  will  he  go  unto 


d  ch.  4  :  39 e  chaps.  13  :  33 ;  16:16 f  ch.  8  :  21 ;  Hoa.  5  :  6. 


him.  An  arrest  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
him  before  the  authorities,  not  a  mere  lawless 
act  of  a  mob,  is  indicated  by  the  original  (nia^ui). 
The  attempt,  however,  was  probably  made  by 
some  of  the  people,  acting  without  special  au- 
thority; this  is  implied  by  the  account  of  the 
official  action  subsequently  taken  (ver.  32). — Be- 
cause his  hour  was  not  yet  come.  The 
hour  appointed  in  the  divine  counsel  for  his  pas- 
sion and  death.  The  immediate  cause  of  the 
failure  to  arrest  may  have  been  a  fear  of  the 
Galileans  and  others  with  whom  Christ  was  pop- 
ular ;  but  John  passes  this  wholly  by  to  speak  of 
the  real  reason  in  the  divine  counsels.  Predesti- 
nation is  quite  as  strongly  marked  in  John  as  in 
Paul. — But  of  the  multitude  many  believed 
on  him.  The  degree  of  faith  is  not  indicated. 
Its  spirituality  may  have  been  very  slight ;  yet 
the  rest  of  the  sentence  certainly  indicates  that 
they  were  inclined  to  think  that  this  might  be 
the  promised  Messiah. — More  miracles  than 
these  which  this  one  hath  done.  To  those 
which  had  been  wrought  in  Jerusalem  were 
probably  added,  in  their  thought,  those  which 
had  been  wrought  in  Galilee ;  some  of  these  had 
doubtless  been  witnessed  by  many  of  the  Gali- 
leans present. 

32-31.  The  Pharisees  and  the  chief 
priests  sent  officers  to  take  him.  This  was 
an  official  act  on  the  part  of  the  Sanhedrim  or 
its  officers,  carrying  out  the  design  of  certain  of 
the  people,  as  indicated  in  ver.  30 ;  and  it  is  the 
first  official  endeavor  to  arrest  him,  the  begin- 
ning of  a  course  of  action  consummated  in  his 
final  arrest,  trial,  and  cniciflxion. — Therefore 
said  Jesus  unto  them.  A  break  evidently 
occurs  between  verses  31  and  32.  The  discourse 
up  to  ver.  31  is  continuous,  and  took  place 
about  the  middle  of  the  feast,  that  is,  the  third 
or  fourth  day ;  the  discourse  in  verses  87-39  was 
on  the  last  day  of  the  feast ;  between  the  two 
the  orders  for  Christ's  arrest  were  given.  Verses 
33,  34  are  founded  on  Christ's  knowledge  of 
those  orders,  and  it  Is  a  reasonable  surmise  that 
the  presence  of  the  officers  suggested  it  to  him 
and  interpreted  its  meaning  to  some  at  least  of 
his  auditors. — Yet  a  little  while  am  I  with 
you.  About  six  months  after  this  address  he 
was  crucified.— And  I  go  unto  him  that  sent 
me.  With  this  explicit  statement  of  his  mean- 
ing, interpreted  as  it  was  by  the  previous  decla- 
ration that  it  was  the  true  God  who  had  sent 


him,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  the  Jews 
could  have  been  perplexed  respecting  his  mean- 
ing. De  Wette's  explanation  that  they  knew  not 
the  One  who  had  sent  him,  and  therefore  that 
this  saying  was  a  dark  one  to  them,  is  not  wholly 
satisfactory,  for  surely  they  did  know  who  was 
meant  by  the  phrase,  he  that  sent  me,  and  as  sure- 
ly they  could  not  fail  to  understand  that  going 
to  God  was  equivalent  to  death.  Meyer  sup- 
poses that  the  words  him  that  sent  me  in  this 
verse  were  not  a  part  of  Christ's  discourse,  but 
added,  perhaps  by  John  himself ;  but  they  are 
not  wanting  in  any  of  the  manuscripts ;  and  that 
is  both  a  doubtful  and  a  dangerous  kind  of  criti- 
cism which  removes  a  difficulty  by  the  summary 
process  of  removing  the  difficult  words,  without 
any  external  authority  for  so  doing.  I  believe 
therefore  that  Christ  was  explicit,  that  he  was 
understood,  and  that  the  assumed  perplexity  of 
his  hearers  was  a  piece  of  hypocrisy.  See  on 
verses  35,  36.— Ye  shall  seek  and  shall  not 
find  me ;  and  where  I  am  ye  cannot  come. 
The  key  to  the  true  interpretation  of  this  pas- 
sage, is  aflEorded  by  Luke  17  :  22 ;  John  8  :  21 ; 
13  :  33.  Christ  does  not  refer  to  an  inimical  seek- 
ing ;  the  search  here  is  the  same  as  the  desire  to 
see  one  of  the  days  of  the  Son  of  man  in  Luke 
17  :  22  ;  i.  e.  the  Jewish  desire  for  a  manifestation 
of  the  Messiah.  He  does  not  refer  to  a  true 
spiritual  seeking,  for  in  ch.  8  :  21  he  declares,  to 
the  same  Jewish  auditors,  Yc  shall  seek  me  and  ye 
shall  die  in  your  sins.  Eusebius  declares  that 
many  Jews  in  consequence  of  the  judgments  of 
God  on  Jerusalem  became  believers ;  such  did 
indeed  seek  Christ,  but  they  found  him.  The 
meaning  then  is  that  in  the  coming  days  of  travail 
and  sorrow,  when  many  should  go  out  after  false 
Christs  (Matt.  24  :  23,  24),  the  Jcws  would  earnestly 
desire  a  Messiah  for  their  deliverer,  whom,  how- 
ever, they  could  not  have,  because  with  their 
own  hands  they  had  put  him  to  death.  They 
would  seek,  but  theirs  would  be  a  temporal,  not 
a  spiritual  seeking ;  the  seeking  of  fear  and  self- 
interest,  not  of  repentance,  faith,  and  love.  This 
verse  affords  no  authority  whatever  for  the 
opinion  that  any  earnest  spiritual  soul  ever  seeks 
Christ  in  vain. 

35,  36.  Then  said  the  Jews  among  them- 
selves. Their  utterance  has  been  by  some  re- 
garded as  the  utterance  of  a  genuine  perplexity. 
So  apparently  Maurice  :  "He  had  broken  down 
the  barriers  between  difEerent  classes  of  Israel- 


103 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VII. 


the  dispersed  s  among  the  Gentiles,  and  teach  the  Gen- 
tiles ? 

36  What  manner  of  saying  is  this  that  he  said,  Ye 
shall  seek  me,  and  shall  not  find  me  :  and  where  1  am, 
thither  ye  cannot  come  ? 


37  In  the  last^  day,  that  great  day  of  the  feast,  Jesus 
stood  and  cried,  saying.  It'  any  man  thirst,  let  him 
come  unto  me,  and  drink. 

38  He  that  believeth  on  me,  as  the  scripture  hath 
said,  out  J  of  his  belly  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water. 


g  Isa.  11  •  12 ;  James  1  :  1 ;  1  Pet.  1:1 h  Lev.  23  : ! 


. .  i  Isa.  55  :  1 ;  Rev.  22  :  17 j  ch.  4  :  14;  Prov.  18  :  4  ,   Isa.  58  ;  11. 


ites — ^between  Galileans,  Samaritans,  and  Jews. 
Why  might  he  not  carry  his  designs  furtlier? 
Why  might  he  not  go  to  the  dispersed  tribes  in 
heathen  lands  ?  Why  might  he  not  preach  to 
the  heathen  themselves?"  By  others  it  is  re- 
garded as  the  language  of  scorn  and  contempt. 
So  Meyer:  "An  insolent  and  scornful  supposi- 
tion, which  they  themselves,  however,  do  not 
deem  probable  (therefore  the  question  is  asked 
with  fii;),  regarding  the  meaning  of  words  to 
them  so  utterly  enigmatical.  The  bolder  mode 
of  teaching  adopted  by  Jesus,  his  universalistic 
declarations,  his  partial  non-observance  of  the 
law  of  the  Sabbath,  would  lead  them,  perhaps, 
to  associate  with  the  unintelligible  statement  a 
mocking  thought  like  this,  and  all  the  more  be- 
cause much  interest  was  felt  among  the  heathen, 
partly  of  an  earnest  kind,  and  partly  (comp.  St. 
Paul  in  Athens)  arising  from  curiosity  merely, 
regarding  the  Oriental  religions,  especially  Ju- 
daism." The  latter  view  seems  to  me  the  more 
probable,  because  (1)  it  is  inconceivable  that  the 
Jews  should  have  misapprehended  Christ's 
meaning  (ver.  33,  note) ;  (2)  his  analogous  language 
in  the  next  chapter  they  clearly  did  understand 
to  refer  to  his  death  (ch.  8  :  22) ;  (3)  the  fact  that 
what  was  said  was  "among  themselves"  indi- 
cates that  it  was  not  an  honest  perplexity,  in 
which  case  they  would  have  asked  Christ  for  an 
explanation,  but  of  the  same  quality  as  the  mur- 
muring reported  in  verses  26,  27. 

37.  In  the  last  day,  that  great  day  of  the 
feast.  The  feast  of  the  Tabernacles  proper 
lasted  for  seven  days  (Lev.  23 :  34,  41, 42),  but  on  the 
eighth  day  a  solemn  assembly  kept  as  a  feast- 
Sabbath  was  directed  to  be  held  (Lev.  23  :  36 ;  Numb. 

29 :  35 ;  Neh.  8  :  18) ;  and  though  the  people  dwelt 
in  the  booths  only  the  seven  days,  this  eighth 
day  was  reckoned  by  the  Jews  as  a  part  of  the 
feast.  Whether  the  seventh  or  the  eighth  is  in- 
tended here  by  the  "  last  day  of  the  fqast  "  is  a 
little  uncertain,  as  it  also  is  whether  the  drawing 
of  water  from  the  brook  Siloah,  which  was  a 
characteristic  ceremonial  of  the  other  days  of 
the  feast,  took  place  also  on  the  eighth  day. 
This  ceremonial  recalled  the  miraculous  supply 
of  water  in  the  wilderness  from  the  riven  rock ; 
it  was  connected  by  the  more  superstitious  of 
the  people  with  the  notion  that  at  this  time  God 
determined  the  amount  of  rain  which  should 
fall  during  the  year ;  and  the  more  spiritual  saw 
in  it  a  symbol  of  the  time  when  the  promised 
gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  should  be  bestowed  upon 


Israel  (isa.  12 : 3).  Whether  the  words  of  Christ 
were  uttered,  as  Dr.  Geikie  supposes,  during 
this  ceremonial,  or,  as  Alford  supposes,  the  day 
after  this  service  had  come  to  an  end,  the  refer- 
ence to  it  is  unmistakable.  Dr.  Geikie's  suppo- 
sition certainly  makes  this  reference  more  strik- 
ing, and  gives,  if  not  peculiar  significance,  at 
least  peculiar  force,  to  Christ's  words.  "The 
last  day  of  the  feast,  known  as  'the  Hosanna 
Rabba'  and  the  '  Great  Day,'  found  him,  as  each 
day  before,  doubtless,  had  done,  in  the  temple 
arcades.  He  had  gone  thither  early,  to  meet 
the  crowds  assembled  for  morning  prayer.  It 
was  a  day  of  special  rejoicing.  A  great  proces- 
sion of  pilgrims  marched  seven  times  round  the 
city,  with  their  lulabs,  music,  and  loud-voiced 
choirs  preceding,  and  the  air  was  rent  with 
shouts  of  Hosanna,  in  commemoration  of  the 
taking  of  Jericlio,  the  first  city  in  the  Holy  Land 
that  fell  into  the  hands  of  their  fathers.  Other 
multitudes  streamed  to  the  brook  of  Siloah, 
after  the  priests  and  Levites,  bearing  the  golden 
vessels  with  which  to  draw  some  of '  the  water. 
As  many  as  could  get  near  the  stream  drank  of 
it  amidst  loud  shouting  of  the  words  of  Isaiah — 
'Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the 
waters,'  'With  joy  shall  we  draw  water  from  the 
wells  of  salvation ' — rising  in  jubilant  chants  on 
every  side.  The  water  drawn  by  the  priests  was, 
meanwhile,  borne  up  to  the  temple,  amidst  the 
boundless  excitement  of  a  vast  throng.  Such  a 
crowd  was,  apparently,  passing  at  this  moment. 
Rising  as  the  throng  went  by,  his  spirit  was 
moved  at  such  honest  enthusiasm,  yet  saddened 
at  the  moral  decay  which  mistook  a  mere  cere- 
mony for  religion.  It  was  burning  autumn 
weather,  when  the  sun  had  for  months  shone  in 
a  cloudless  sky,  and  the  early  rains  were  longed 
for  as  the  monsoons  in  India  after  the  summer 
heat.  Water  at  all  times  is  a  magic  word  in  a 
sultry  climate  like  Palestine,  but  at  this  moment 
it  had  a  double  power.  Standing,  therefore,  to 
give  his  words  more  solemnity,  his  voice  now 
sounded  far  and  near  over  the  throng,  with  soft 
clearness,  which  arrested  all :  If  any  man  thirst, 
let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink." — (Geikie.) — 
If  any  man  thirst.  This  is  not  an  uncondi- 
tional promise  ;  it  is  conditioned,  not  merely  on 
desire,  but  on  a  fervent  desire.  Comp.  Isa.  55  : 1 ; 
Matt.  5:6;  Rev.  22  :  17.  "  None  are  called  to 
obtain  the  riches  of  the  Spirit  but  those  who 
bum  with  the  desire  of  them.  For  we  know 
that  the  pain  of  thirst  is  most  acute  and  torment- 


Ch.  VII.] 


JOHN. 


103 


39  (But  this  spake  he  of  the*  Spirit,  which  they  that 
behave  on  him  should  receive  :  for  the  Holy  Ghost  was 
not  yet  given;  because  that  Jesus  was  not  yet  glori- 
fied.) 

40  Many  of  the  people  therefore,  when  they  heard 
this  saying',  said.  Of  a  truth  this  is  the  Prophet.' 

41  Others  said,  This  is  the""  Christ.  But  some  said, 
Shall  "  Christ  come  out  of  Galilee  ? 


42  Hath  not  the  scripture  said,  That  Christ"  cometh 
of  the  seed  of  David,  and  out  of  the  town  of  Beth- 
lehem,p  where  David  1  was  ? 

43  So  there  was  a  division  among  the  people  because 
of  him. 

44  And  some  of  them  would  have  taken  him  ;  but  no 
man  laid  hands  on  him. 

45  Then  came  the  officers  to  the  chief  priests  and 


k  ch.  16  :  t 


Isa.  44  :  3;  Joel  2  :  28  ;  Acts  2  ;  17,  33 1  cli.  6  :  14  ;  Deut.  18  :  15,  18 m  chaps,  4  :  42  ;   6  :  69. 

o  Ps.  132  :  11 ;  Jer.  23  :  5 p  Micah  6  :  2;  Luke  2:4 q  1  Sam.  16  :  1-4. 


.n  verse  52;  cb.  1  :  46. 


ing,  SO  that  the  very  strongest  men,  and  those 
who  can  endure  any  amount  of  toil,  are  over- 
powered by  thirst." — {Calvin.)  An  illustration 
of  this  spiritual  thirst  is  afforded  by  David  in 
Psalms  42,  43,  and  by  Paul  in  PhU.  3  :  8-14.— Let 
him  come  unto  me.  If  one  can  imagine  these 
words  spoken  to  the  throng  while  the  procession 
is  marching  into  the  temple,  or  even  just  after 
the  solemn  service  is  over  and  the  minds  of  the 
people  are  still  full  of  it,  he  will  form  a  faint 
conception  of  the  divine  assumption  implied  in 
them ;  and  if  he  further  considers  the  effect 
produced,  both  on  the  multitude  (verses  40,  4i)  and 
on  the  officers  sent  to  arrest  Jesus  (ver.  46),  he 
wUl  form  a  faint  conception  of  the  divine  dignity 
with  which  those  words  were  uttered. 

38.  He  that  hath  faith  in  me.  As  in  ch.  6 
to  eat  the  flesh  and  drink  the  blood  of  Christ  is 
to  have  faith  in  him  and  live  by  him,  so  here,  to 
come  unto  him  and  drink  is  to  come  with  the 
affections  and  receive  him  into  the  soul. — As 
the  Scripture  hath  said.  There  is  no  passage 
in  the  0.  T.  which  directly  sustains  this  cita- 
tion, and  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Christ  refers 
to  any  lost  book.  Alf ord  refers  to  Ezek.  47  : 1-12, 
where  the  river  of  the  water  of  life  is  described 
as  flowing  from  under  the  temple,  which  Alford 
regards  as  a  symbol  of  the  believer ;  similarly 
Olshausen  ;  but  both  this  reference  and  that  to 
Zech.  14  :  8  are  remote  and  unnatural.  We  are 
either  to  suppose  that  the  phrase  "as  the  Scrip- 
ture hath  said "  refers  only  to  the  preceding 
clause,  "he  that  believeth  on  me,"  so  that  the 
meaning  is.  He  that  according  to  the  O.  T.  be- 
lieveth on  me  ;  or  else  we  are  to  suppose  that 
John  by  the  following  verse  (39)  not  only  inter- 
prets the  meaning  of  Christ's  promise,  but  also  the 
meaning  of  his  reference,  and  that  we  are  to  look 
for  the  Scripture  in  those  passages  which  refer 
to  and  promise  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 
former  of  these  interpretations  is  that  of  Chry- 
sostom,  the  latter  that  of  Meyer,  who  refers  to 
Isa.  44  :  3  ;  55  : 1 ;  58  :  1 ;  Joel  3  :  18 ;  Zech.  13  : 
1.— Shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water.  This 
declaration  is  not  to  be  limited  so  that  it  shall  be 
simply  equivalent  to  the  promise  in  John  4  :  14, 
"  Whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall 
give  him  shall  never  thirst."  The  language  out 
of  his  belly  clearly  implies  something  received 
that  it  may  flow  from  the  recipient  unto  others. 
The  water  which  he  drinks  becomes  in  him  a 


spring  from  which  living  waters  flow,  as  the 
light  which  illuminates  him  makes  him  in  turn 
one  of  the  lights  which  illuminate  the  world 
(Matt.  5  :  14;  Phil.  2 :  15).  That  this  is  the  meaning  is 
clear,  not  only  from  the  language  here,  but  from 
John's  interpretation  in  the  succeeding  verse. 
"  The  mutual  and  inspired  intercourse  of  Chris- 
tians from  Pentecost  downwards,  the  speaking 
in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  the  mu- 
tual edification  in  Christian  assemblies  by  means 
of  the  charismata  even  to  the  speaking  with 
tongues,  the  entire  work  of  the  apostles,  of  a 
Stephen  and  so  on,  furnish  an  abundant  histori- 
cal commentary  upon  this  text." — {Meyer.) 

39.  But  this  spake  he  of  the  Spirit.  This 
declaration  of  John  makes  the  second  chapter  of 
Acts  and  the  succeeding  history  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  the  true  commentary  on  Christ's 
promise. — For  the  Spirit  was  not  yet.  The 
meaning  cannot  of  course  be  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  had  no  existence,  for  ' '  this  would  be  not 
only  in  flat  contradiction  to  chaps.  1  :  32,  33 ; 
3  :  5,  8,  34,  but  to  the  whole  O.  T.,  in  which  the 
agency  of  the  Spirit  in  the  outward  world  is  rec- 
ognized even  more  vividly  than  in  the  N.  T." 
{Alford.)  And  it  is  not  only  in  the  outward 
world  that  the  O.  T.  recognizes  the  Holy  Spirit, 
but  also  in  the  hearts  of  individual  prophets, 
who  thus  became  the  ministers  of  divine  grace 

to  others  (Oen.  41  :  38  ;  Exod.  4  :  11,  12;  31  :  3  ;  2  Chron.  15  :  1 ; 

Ps.  51  :  11 ;  Isa.  63 :  11,  u).  Nor  docs  the  addition  by 
the  translators  of  the  word  given  adequately  rep- 
resent the  meaning,  for  the  Holy  Ghost  was 
given  before  the  glorification  of  Christ,  but  not 
to  all  men;  he  was  not  a  universal  gift.  The 
meaning  is  that  the  dispensation  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  had  not  yet  begun ;  he  had  not  yet  been 
so  given  that  whoever  had  faith  in  the  Son  of 
God  received  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  be- 
came one  of  the  Lord's  prophets  (acu  2 :  38).  See 
Acts  2  :  4,  note. — Because  Jesus  was  not  yet 
glorified.  The  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ 
were  the  conditions  precedent  of  the  outpouring 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  ( ch.  14 :  le,  n ;  16 : 7 ;  Acts  1 : 7-9). 

40-44.  These  verses  give  the  impressions  pro- 
duced on  different  auditors  by  Christ's  dis- 
courses at  the  feast.  The  word  many  is  wanting 
in  the  best  manuscripts,  and  is  omitted  by  Lach- 
man,  Tischendorf,  Meyer,  Alford,  Schaff ;  for  it 
read  some.  Some  regarded  Jesus  as  the  prophet 
foretold  in  Deut.  18  :  15  (comp.  ch.  1 :  21 ;  Matt.  16 :  u) ; 


104 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VII. 


Pharisees  ;  and  they  said  unto  them,  Why  have  ye  not 
brought  him  ? 

46   The  officers  answered,  Never'  man  spake  like 
this  man. 


47  Then  answered  them  the  Pharisees,  Are  ye  also 
deceived  ? 

48  Have  any  of  the  rulers «  or  of  the  Pharisees  be- 
lieved on  him  ? 


r  Luke  4  :  22 . . . .  s  ch.  12  :  42  ;  Jer.  5  :  4,  6 ;  1  Cor.  1  :  26. 


others  thought  that  he  might  even  be  the  Mes- 
siah. See  ver.  31.  The  opponents  of  Christ 
based  their  opposition  not  upon  his  character  or 
that  of  his  teaching,  but  upon  their  Jewish  pre- 
judice to  his  supposed  Galilean  origin.  There 
is  no  good  ground  for  the  conclusion,  arrived  at 
by  some  rationalistic  critics  from  John's  lan- 
guage here,  that  he  did  not  know  that  Jesus  was 
born  in  Bethlehem.  Writing  his  Gospel  many 
years  after  the  main  facts  of  Christ's  birth,  life, 


and  death  were  known  throughout  the  church, 
he  here  simply  narrates  as  an  historian  the  ob- 
jections which  the  Judeans  made  to  the  claim 
that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah  ;  to  have  pointed  out 
their  mistake  would  have  been  a  work  of  super- 
erogation. Alford's  note  on  this  point  is  quite 
conclusive  :  "De  Wette's  'probability  that  John 
knew  nothing  of  the  birth  at  Bethlehem '  reaches 
much  further  than  may  appear  at  first.  If  John 
knew  nothing  of  it,  and  yet  the  mother  of  the  Lord 


OFFICERS   OF    THE   CHIEF   PRIESTS. 


lived  with  him,  the  inference  must  be  that  she 
knew  nothing  of  it — in  other  words,  that  it  never 
happened." 

45,  46.  Then  came  the  officers.  Not  Ro- 
man soldiers,  but  temple  police,  answering  to 
the  modem  constable  or  the  Roman  lictor  or  the 
English  beadle.  They  had  been  directed  by  the 
officers  of  the  Sanhedrim  to  arrest  Jesus  (ver.  32). 
Presumptively  this  return  of  the  officers  occurred 
several  days  after  their  commission  to  make  the 
arrest.     They  had  been  watching  him  during  the 


feast. — Never   man  spake    like  this  man. 

They  were  not  overawed  by  the  multitude,  but 
by  the  words  of  Christ  himself.  There  is  no 
stronger  testimony,  even  in  the  Gospels,  to  the 
marvellous  moral  power  of  Christ's  personality 
and  words  than  this  declaration  of  the  temple 
police,  who  were  probably  ignorant  but  also  sim- 
ple men,  without  the  culture,  but  also  without 
the  religious  prejudices,  of  the  rulers.  In  the 
life  of  Whitefleld  are  several  illustrations  of 
analogous  moral  power  over  roughs  who  had 


Ch.  VIII.] 


JOHN. 


105 


49  But  this  people,  who  knoweth  not  the  law,  are 
cursed. 

50  Nicodemus  saith  unto  them,  (he'  that  came  to 
Jesus  by  night,  being  one  of  them,) 

51  Doth"  our  law  ludge  any  man  before  it  hear  him, 
and  know  what  he  doeth  ? 


52  They  answered  and  said  unto  him.  Art  thou  also 
of  Galilee  ?  Search  and  look :  for  out  of  Galilee  "  aris- 
eth  no  prophet. 

53  And  every  man  went  unto  his  own  house. 


,  u  Deut.  17:8;  Prov.  18  :  13 ....  v  Isa.  9:1,2. 


come  to  the  preaching  to  break  it  up,  but  who 
remained  spell-bound  under  its  influence.  To 
have  elicited  such  testimony  as  this  from  such 
men  as  these,  Jesus  must  have  possessed  the 
power  of  a  true  oratory. 

47-49.  The  language  of  the  Pharisaic  rulers 
is  that  of  unbounded  scorn  for  Jesus  and  for  the 
multitude.  The  latter  are  declared  to  be  under 
divine  wrath  and  cursed  with  moral  blindness 
because  they  have  an  admiration  for  such  a  Sab- 
bath-breaker. "All  here  is  wonderfully  living 
and  characteristic.  The  faint  effort  of  the  offi- 
cers to  execute  the  command  of  their  masters ; 
the  awe  which  held  them  back ;  their  simple 
confession  of  the  power  which  they  found  in  the 
words  of  Jesus ;  the  surprise  of  the  Sanhedrim 
that  the  infection  should  have  reached  even 
their  servants  ;  their  terror  lest  there  might  be 
traitors  in  the  camp,  lest  any  Pharisee  or  lawyer 
(probably  some  eyes  were  turned  on  Nicodemus) 
should  have  been  carried  away  by  the  impulse  to 
which  the  crowd,  naturally  enough,  had  yielded ; 
their  scorn  of  the  people,  as  wretched,  'ac- 
cursed '  men,  utterly  ignorant  of  the  law — who 
does  not  feel  as  if  he  were  present  in  that  convo- 
cation of  doctors  ?  as  if  he  were  looking  at  their 
perplexed  and  angry  faces  ?  as  if  he  were  hear- 
ing their  contemptuous  words  ?  " — {Maurice.) 

50-52.  On  the  character  of  Nicodemus,  see 
notes  on  ch.  3.  The  impression  which  Jesus  had 
made  upon  him  in  that  interview  was  an  abiding 
one.  There  is  a  covert  sarcasm  in  his  question 
here.  Doth  our  law  judge  the  man  except  it  first 
hear  him  and  know  what  he  doeth  ?  They  them- 
selves knew  not  the  law,  and  were  openly  disre- 
garding it.  The  Rabbinical  laws  explicitly  re- 
quired that  every  accused  person  should  have  a 
hearing,  with  an  opportunity  to  confront  the 
witnesses  against  him  and  to  cross-examine  them. 
See  Vol.  I,  p.  398.  That  Nicodemus'  rebuke  was 
felt  by  the  Pharisees  is  shown  by  the  tone  of 
their  answer.  They  replied,  not  by  argument, 
but  by  a  sneer.  Art  thou  also  of  Galilee?  and  by  a 
falsehood,  Out  of  Galilee  hath  arisen  (perfect,  not 
present)    no  prophet.      Jonah    was    of    Galilee 

(2  Kings  14  :  25),  Elijah  Very  probably  so  (l  Kings  n :  l  ; 

— Alford),  and  Nahum  either  of  Galilee  or  of  As- 
syria, a  heathen  land  (xaiium  i  :  i).  The  preju- 
dices of  the  Pharisees  led  them  to  forget  their 
history  as  well  as  their  law.  In  lieu  of  doth  our 
law  judge  any  man  ?  read  the  man,  i.  e.,  this 
man ;   Nicodemus  refers   specifically  to  Jesus. 


In  lieu  of  ariseth  read  hath  arisen  ;  though  there 
is  some  uncertainty.  Alford  gives  the  present 
tense,  ariseth;  Lachman,  Tischendorf,  and  Meyer, 
with  greater  probability,  the  past  tense,  hath 
arisen.  With  either  reading  the  meaning  is 
substantially  the  same ;  not,  as  Godet,  The 
promised  prophet  is  not  now  arising,  but,  as 
Meyer  and  Alford,  No  prophet  ever  ariseth  from 
Galilee. 
53.  This  verse  belongs  with  the  next  chapter. 


Ch.  7  :  53  to  8  :  11.  THE  WOMAN  TAKEN  IS  ADULTERY. 
— Illustbates  :  The  tact  op  Chbist — The  precept, 
Judge  not,  that  tb  be  kot  judged— The  poweb  op 
CONSCIENCE  —  The    Christian   treatment   op   the 

FALLEN. 

Preliminary  Note. — Verse  53  of  ch.  7  belongs 
unquestionably  with  the  first  eleven  verses  of 
ch.  8.  Whether  the  whole  passage  is  really  a 
part  of  John's  Gospel  or  no  is  one  of  the  most 
difficult  and  doubtful  questions  in  Biblical  criti- 
cism. The  weight  of  critical  authority  is  against 
it ;  the  weight  of  internal  evidence  is  in  its  favor. 
For  a  complete  discussion  of  the  considerations 
pro  and  con,  the  student  must  be  referred  to  the 
commentaries  of  Alford,  Meyer,  Luthardt,  and 
Godet,  the  last  being,  of  the  three,  the  most 
comprehensive  in  its  treatment.  Here  I  give 
briefly  (1)  the  facts,  (2)  the  different  opinions, 
(3)  my  own  conclusion. 

I.  The  facts.  (1)  The  passage  in  question  is 
wanting  in  many  if  not  most  of  the  best  MSS.  ; 
pre-eminently  the  Alexandrian,  the  Vatican,  the 
Ephraem,  and  the  Sinaitie.  Of  the  great  manu- 
scripts, the  Cambridge  alone  contains  it.  (2)  It 
is  transposed  in  some  documents  ;  one  places  it 
in  John  after  7  :  36 ;  ten  at  the  end  of  John ; 
four  in  the  Gospel  of  Luke,  at  the  close  of  ch.  21. 
(3)  In  those  MSS.  which  contain  it  there  are 
great  variations.  Griesbach  distinguishes  three 
entirely  different  texts ;  the  ordinary  text,  that 
of  the  Cambridge  MS.,  and  that  resulting  from  a 
collection  of  other  MSS.  Alford  gives  these 
three  in  his  Greek  Testament.  Sixty  various 
readings  are  found  in  these  twelve  verses.  "  No 
genuine  apostolic  text  has  ever  undergone  such 
alterations."— (G^orfei.)  (4)  The  style  and  charac- 
ter of  the  narrative  is  strikingly  unlike  John. 
These  difierences  are  partly  verbal,  and  are  ap- 
parent only  to  the  Greek  scholar.  Ten  expres- 
sions are  given  by  Meyer  as  non-Johannean. 
They  are  partly  structural,  and  as  easily  recog- 


106 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VIII. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

JESUS  went  unto  the  mount  of  Olives. 
2  And  early  in  the  morning  he  came  again  into 


the  temple,  and  all  the  people  came  unto  him ;  and  he 
sat  down,  and  taught  them. 

3  And  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  brought  unto  him  a 
woman  taken  in  adultery  ;  and  when  they  had  set  her 
in  the  midst, 


nized  by  the  English  reader  as  by  the  Greek 
scholar.  Such  are  the  propounding  of  a  question 
concerning  the  law  to  tempt  Christ,  and  the  de- 
parture of  Christ  at  night  from  the  temple,  both 
of  which  agree  rather  with  the  Synoptics'  ac- 
count of  the  last  sojourn  in  Jerusalem  than  with 
John's  account  of  this  period  of  Christ's  minis- 
try. If  the  account  is  omitted  altogether,  the 
discourse  in  ch.  7  and  that  in  ch.  8  appear  to  be 
in  close  connection  ;  the  Interruption  of  this  in- 
cident is  not  very  clearly  cognate  to  either  dis- 
course ;  and  it  is  not  John's  habit  to  narrate 
incidents  that  are  not  connected  with  and  do  not 
lead  to  some  discourse  of  the  Lord.  (5)  Among 
the  fathers  Origen,  Chrysostom,  Theophylact, 
and  Tertullian  are  altogether  silent  about  the 
passage  ;  Jerome,  Ambrose,  and  Augustine  rec- 
ognize it  as  authentic ;  among  critical  scholars 
Lticke,  Tholuck,  Olshausen,  De  Wette,  Luthardt, 
Hengstenburg,  Schenkel,  Godet,  Lachmann, 
Tischendorf,  Alford,  and  SchafE  apparently 
agree  in  regarding  it  as  an  addition  by  some 
other  hand  to  John's  Gospel ;  Bengel  and  Hil- 
genfeld  are  the  only  scholars  of  widely  recog- 
nized reputation  who  defend  its  Johannean  au- 
thorship. (6)  But  though  the  narrative  is  unlike 
John,  the  act  is  very  like  Jesus.  The  whole 
scene  possesses  an  air  of  historic  reality :  the 
arrest  of  the  woman,  the  demand  on  Jesus,  the 
'Pharisaic  contempt  for  public  morality  in  ob- 
truding the  crime  and  the  criminal  on  public 
attention  in  the  temple  courts ;  the  attempt  to 
entrap  Jesus  ;  the  skill  of  his  reply  ;  the  subtle 
recognition  of  the  woman's  shame  and  despair, 
and  the  gentle  avoidance  of  adding  to  it,  in  turn- 
ing the  public  gaze  from  her  to  himself  by  writ- 
ing on  the  ground ;  the  final  confusion  of  the 
Pharisees  and  release  of  the  woman.  It  is  im- 
possible to  believe  that  any  monkish  mind  con- 
ceived of  this  and  added  it  to  the  narrative.  The 
deed  is  the  deed  of  Christ,  whether  or  no  the 
record  is  the  record  of  John. 

II.  Opinions.  These  are  three :  (1)  That  the 
narrative  belongs  here ;  was  written  by  John, 
and  was  expunged  from  the  Gospel  at  an  early 
date  because  it  was  feared  that  an  immoral  use 
would  be  made  of  it.  This  was  Augustine's 
opinion.  But  this  hypothesis  does  not  account 
for  the  variety  of  readings,  nor  for  peculiarities 
in  character  and  diction  which  make  it  unlike 
John's  Gospel.  (3)  That  it  is  an  interpolation  of 
a  later  age,  for  a  purpose,  by  some  early  copyist. 
But  the  copyist  who  could  have  conceived  this 
incident  must  have  possessed  the  moral  genius 
of  Christ  himself.     "  It  is  eminently  Christlike, 


and  full  of  comfort  to  penitent  outcasts.  It 
breathes  the  Saviour's  spirit  of  holy  mercy, 
which  condemns  the  sin  and  saves  the  sinner. 
It  is  parallel  to  the  parable  of  the  prodigal,  the 
story  of  Mary  Magdalene,  and  that  of  the  Sa- 
maritan woman,  and  agrees  with  many  express 
declarations  of  Christ  that  he  came  not  to  con- 
demn, but  to  save  the  lost  (john  3  :  n;  12  :  47;  Luke 
9  :  56 ;  19  :  10 ;  comp.  John  5  :  14 ;  Luke  7  :  37,  etc.).  HiS  re- 
fusal to  act  as  judge  in  this  case  has  a  parallel  in 
a  similar  case  related  in  Luke  13  :  13-1.5." — 
{Schaff.)  (3)  That  it  is  a  tradition  of  the  apos- 
tolic age,  and  was  incorporated  in  the  present 
evangelical  narratives,  probably  in  the  second  or 
third  century,  but  in  different  forms  and  in  dif- 
ferent places.  It  may  have  been  originally  part 
of  one  of  the  lost  Gospels.  Eusebius  relates  that 
the  work  of  Papias  contained  "  the  histoiy  of  a 
woman  accused  before  the  Lord  of  numerous 
sins,  a  history  contained  also  in  the  Gospel  of  the 
Hebrews."  This  opinion,  which  is  substantially 
that  of  Godet,  Meyer,  Luthardt,  and  Alford,  ac- 
counts for  the  existence  of  the  narrative,  the 
apparent  truthfulness  of  it,  the  variations  of 
form,  and  the  non-Johannean  characteristics  of 
style.  It  seems  to  me  inherently  the  most  prob- 
able. On  internal  grounds  it  seems  to  me  clear 
that  the  narrative  is  historical ;  on  critical 
grounds  that  it  is  not  John's ;  who  was  its  au- 
thor and  how  it  became  incorporated  in  John's 
Gospel  is  a  matter  only  of  conjecture. 

Ch.  7  :^3  to  8:1,3.  Every  man  Avent 
unto  his  own  house;  Jesus  went  unto  the 
Mount  of  Olives.  The  force  of  the  contrast 
is  impaired  by  the  unfortunate  and  unnatural 
break  between  the  two  clauses  of  what  should 
be  printed  as  a  single  sentence.  The  auditors 
had  homes ;  Jesus  had  not  where  to  lay  his 
head ;  and  if,  as  is  probable,  this  incident  be- 
longs to  the  Passion  week,  it  was  not  safe  for 
him  to  spend  a  night  within  the  city  walls.  He 
either  spent  it  on  the  mount  or  went  beyond  it 
to  Bethany,  the  home  of  his  friends  Martha  and 
Mary.  —  He  sat  down  and  taught  them. 
One  of  the  indications  that  this  passage  is  not 
from  John;  for  "it  is  not  in  John's  manner  to 
relate  that  Jesus  taught  them,  without  relating 
what  he  taught "  {Alford). 

3-5.  Brought  unto  him  a  Avoman.  There 
was  no  reason  why  they  should  have  brought 
her  to  him,  except  for  the  purpose  of  involving 
him  in  diflSculty.— When  they  had  set  her  in 
the  midst.  This  public  exposure  to  shame  was 
itself  a  terrible  punishment,  and  aroused  the 
pity,  the  shame,  and  the  indignation  of  Jesus. 


Ch.  VIII.] 


JOHN. 


107 


4  They  say  unto  him,  Master,  this  woman  was  taken 
in  adultery,  in  the  very  act. 

5  Now"  Moses  in  the  law  commanded  us  that  such 
should  be  stoned  :  but  what  sayest  thou  ? 


6  This  they  said,  tempting  him,  that  they  might  have 
to  accuse  him.  But  Jesus  stooped  down,  and  with  his 
finger  wrote  on  the  ground,  as  though  he  heard  them 

not. 


THE  MOUNT   OF  OLIVES.      (From  the  wall  of  Jerusalem.) 


It  was  not  done  In  the  interest  of  public  morals. 
They  were  flagrantly  disregarded  in  this  obtru- 
sion of  a  public  scandal  into  the  midst  of  the 
temple  worship,  by  accusers  who  cared  not  for 
her,  nor  for  the  general  public,  if  they  could  btit 
involve  in  perplexity  and  bring  into  disrepute 
the  Rabbi  whom  they  so  bitterly  hated. — In  the 
very  act.  The  man  was  equally  amenable 
under  the  Mosaic  law  to  the  death  penalty  (Lev. 
JO :  10 ;  itent.  22 :  22).  But  the  man  they  had  let  go  ; 
for  then,  as  now,  society  punished  the  guilty 
woman,  but  not  the  guilty  man. — That  such 
should  be  stoned.  Stoning  was  only  com- 
manded by  Moses  for  unfaithfulness  in  a  be- 
trothed virgin  (ccut.  22  :  23,  24).  But  infidelity  in  a 
wife  is  made  by  the  preceding  verse  punishable 
with  death,  and  perhaps,  by  implication,  the 
same  form  of  death. 

6.  This  they  said  tempting  him.  The 
commentators  have  been  needlessly  puzzled  to 
explain  how  Christ's  answer  to  this  question 
could  have  furnished  matter  for  accusation. 
The  Pharisees  would  have  accused  him  to  the 
people,  not  to  the  Roman  government.  The  law 
of  Moses  was  a  dead  letter.  There  is  no  authen- 
tic instance  in  post-Mosaic  history  of  an  execu- 
tion under  it.  Divorce  was  easy,  and  the  in- 
jured husband  generally  avoided  public  disgrace 
by  simply  separating  from  his  unfaithful  wife. 


Could  Christ  refuse  to  adjudge  the  case?  He 
had  claimed  to  be  King  of  Israel,  in  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  had  put  his  own  precepts  above 
those  of  Moses,  and  had  proclaimed  a  far  more 
stringent  law  of  purity  than  Moses  ever  enacted 
(Matt.  5 :  27-32).  Could  he  acquit  her,  and  so  set 
aside  the  Mosaic  law  ?  He  had  declared  that  not 
one  jot  or  tittle  of  it  should  pass  away  till  all 
was  fulfilled,  and  that  whoever  relaxed  the  least 
of  its  precepts  should  be  least  in  his  kingdom. 
Could  he  condemn  her  ?  He  would  thus  revive 
an  obsolete  statute,  and  enforce  it  against  a  hap- 
less and  defenceless  woman — he  who  had  come 
to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost,  who  had  received 
the  publican  and  harlot  among  his  disciples,  and 
had  accepted  the  homage  of  a  notorious  woman 
of  the  town  (Luke  7 :  36-39).  It  ofteu  happens  that 
people  are  unwilling  to  have  a  teacher  set  aside  in 
theory  a  law  which  they  are  equally  unwilling  to 
see  enforced  in  practice.  Only  a  small  minority 
is  willing  in  our  own  day  to  abolish  capital  pun- 
ishment ;  but  only  rarely  is  a  jury  willing  to  in- 
flict it.  There  are  comparatively  few  persons 
who  are  ^villing  to  live  according  to  the  Sabbath 
law  which  they  wish  their  minister  to  preach. — 
But  Jesus  stooped  down  and  with  his 
finger  Avrote  on  the  ground.  The  words  (ts 
though  he  Tieard  them  not  are  an  addition  of  the 
translators,  though  at  least  one  manuscript  con- 


108 


JOHN. 


[Oh.  VIIL 


7  So  when  they  continued  asking  him,  he  lifted  up 
himself,  and  said  unto  them,  He  that  is  without  sin 
among  you,"  let  him  first  cast  a  stone  at  her. 

8  And  again  he  stooped  down,  and  wrote  on  the 
ground. 

9  And  they  which  heard  it,  being  convicted  by  their 
own  conscience,  went  out  one  by  one,  beginning  at  the 


eldest,  ezien  unto  the  last :  and  Jesus  was  left  alone, 
and  the  woman  standmg  in  the  midst. 

10  When  Jesus  had  lifted  up  himself,  and  saw  none 
but  the  woman,  he  said  unto  her,  Woman,  where  are 
those  thine  accusers?  hath  no  man  condemned  thee  ? 

11  She  said.  No  man.  Lord.  And  Jesus  said  unto 
her,  Neither  do  1  condemn  i  thee :  go ,  and  sin  ^  no  more. 


X  Deut.  17  :  7 ;  Rom.  2  :  1,  22  . . . .  y  eh.  3  :  17  . . 


tains  the  idea.  What  was  the  meaning  of  this 
action  ?  Various  opinions  have  been  suggested, 
e.  g.^  a  usual  act  signifying  preoccupation  of 
mind  {Alfor([) ;  to  hide  his  own  confusion,  the 
shock  to  his  own  moral  sensibility  by  the  gross- 
ness  of  the  Pharisees'  public  abuse  of  the  woman 
( Oeikie) ;  as  a  judge,  for  a  judicial  sentence  is 
not  only  pronounced,  but  written  {Godet) ;  as  a 
refusal  to  interfere,  a  sign  that  he  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  their  question  {Meyer,  Luthardt).  His 
object  in  this  writing  seems  to  me  to  be  inter- 
preted by  its  result.  It  turned  all  eyes  from  the 
wretched  woman,  in  an  anguish  of  shame  and 
terror,  to  himself.  She  stood  alone  and  forgot- 
ten ;  all  eyes  were  then  and  have  ever  since  been 
fixed  on  the  figure  of  Christ,  wondering  what 
and  why  he  wrote  in  the  dust.  It  is  not  fanciful 
to  note  the  contrast  between  this  writing  and 
that  prescribed  in  case  of  the  trial  of  a  suspected 
adulteress  by  the  Mosaic  law  (Numb.  5 :  23).  The 
priest  was  to  write  certain  curses  in  a  book, 
then  wash  them  with  bitter  water,  which  the 
accused  was  required  to  drink,  that  the  curses 
might  enter  into  her  if  she  were  guilty.  Christ, 
on  the  contrary,  writes  his  sentence  on  the  sand, 
where,  in  a  moment,  it  will  be  effaced  by  the 
pardon,  "Neither  do  I  condemn  thee;  go,  and 
sin  no  more."  What  he  wrote  has  been  made  a 
matter  of  ingenious  rather  than  profitable  con- 
jecture. The  most  probable  conjecture  is  that 
he  wrote  the  sentence,  "He  that  is  without  sin 
amongst  you,"  etc.,  thus  enabling  the  Pharisees, 
if  they  had  not  been  too  passionately  intent 
on  their  design,  to  avoid  his  public  rebuke. 

7-9.  So  when  they  continued  asking. 
They  wotild  not  take  the  rebuke  of  his  quiet 
contempt.  Had  they  stopped  to  think,  con- 
science would  have  answered  their  inquiry  ;  but 
they  were  too  eager  ;  they  did  not  hear  what  it 
had  to  say  to  them ;  Christ  must  interpret  its 
voice ;  and  he  did  so  with  a  poignant  rebuke. — 
He  that  is  without  sin  among  you,  let 
him  first  cast  a  stone  at  her.  Christ  puts 
on  them  the  problem  with  which  they  had  sought 
to  perplex  him.  In  their  vindictive  haste  they 
had  forgotten  the  provision  of  the  law  that  the 
witnesses  on  whose  testimony  the  accused  was 
condemned  should  cast  the  first  stone  (Dcut.  17 : 5-7). 
They  had  also  forgotten  the  provision  of  the 
Rabbinical  law  that,  in  case  of  accusation,  if  the 
husband  was  not  guiltless,  the  wife  could  not  be 
condemned  (Lightfoot).     Christ  recalls  these  two 


principles,  and  leaves  them  to  solve  their  own 
problem.  Go  on,  he  says  in  effect,  and  try  and 
condemn  the  accused  according  to  your  own  law. 
Let  the  sinless  cast  the  first  stone.  But  a  deeper 
meaning  is  in  his  words.  Unchastity  was  a  uni- 
versal sin  in  the  first  century.  Its  extent  in  Pal- 
estine is  illustrated  by  the  licentioixs  lives  of  the 
Herods,  father  and  sons.  Nowhere  was  this  vice 
more  flagrant  and  unrestrained  than  among  the 
priests,  whose  licentiousness  was  no  secret  to 

the  common   people  (see  Matt.  12  :  39  ;   James  4  :  4).      It 

was  this  revelation  of  their  own  guilt,  implied  in 
the  words  and  easily  understood  by  the  people, 
which  stung  them,  and  drove  them,  self-con- 
demned, one  by  one,  from  the  presence  of  both 
the  accused  and  the  judge. — And  again  he 
stooped  down.  To  give  conscience  in  them 
an  opportunity  to  assert  itself,  with  as  little  re- 
sistance as  possible  from  pride.  He  gave  them 
no  opportunity  to  answer;  he  did  not  look  to 
see  who  was  first  to  withdraw. — Beginning 
with  the  eiders.  The  word  rendered  eldest 
{TtQiaiivriQuiy)  is  almost  universally  rendered 
elders,  generally  as  an  official  designation,  and 
frequently  in  connection  with  the  word  mler 

(e.  g.,  Matt.    15:2;    16  :  21  ;    Mark  8  :  31  ;    15:1;   Luke   7:3; 

22 :  52).  Here  it  seems  to  me  more  probably  to 
designate  rank  {Liicke,  Be  Wette)  than  age  {Lut- 
hardt, Godet).  The  leaders  in  the  accusation 
were  the  first  to  withdraw.  The  words  "  even 
unto  the  last "  are  wanting  in  most  MSS. — Jesus 
was  left  alone.  The  circle  of  accusers  had 
all  withdrawn.  The  people  and  the  disciples 
may  have  stUl  remained ;  hence  the  woman  is 
described  as  "standing  in  the  midst;"  that  is, 
of  the  auditors  who,  before  this  interruption, 
had  been  listening  to  the  teaching  of  Jesus 
(ver.  2).  The  woman  remains  waiting,  as  if  to  re- 
ceive the  sentence  of  Jesus.  The  people  remain 
waiting  to  hear  the  end  of  this  strange  episode. 

10,  11.  Hath  no  man  condemned  thee? 
They  had  then  all  withdrawn  ? — Neither  do  I 
condemn  thee.  He  contrasts  himself  with  the 
accusers  ;  they  could  not,  he  will  not.  He  does 
not,  however,  pronounce  her  forgiven.  There  is 
no  evidence  of  repentance  or  of  faith,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, in  the  case  of  the  woman  that  was  a  sin- 
ner in  Luke  7  :  37.  His  language  condemns  the 
sin,  and  it  gives  opportunity  for  repentance  to 
the  sinner.  "  It  is  a  declaration  of  sufferance, 
not  of  justification."— (GocZe^.)— Go,  and  sin 
no  more.     Comp.  ch.  5  :  li.     The  object  of 


Ch.  VIIL] 


JOHN. 


109 


12  Then  spake  Jesus  again  unto  them,  saying,  I "  am 
the  light  of  the  world :  he  thaf*  follovveth  me  shall  not 
walk  in  darkness,  but  shall  have  the  light  of  life. 

13  The  Pharisees  therefore  said  unto  him,  Thou  '^ 
bearest  record  of  thyself;  thy  record  is  not  true. 


14  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  Though  I 
bear  record  of  myself,  yet  my  record  is  true  :  tor  I 
know  whence  I  came,  and  whither  I  go  ;  buf*  ye  can- 
not tell  whence  I  come,  and  whither  I  go. 

15  Ye  judge  after  the  flesh  ;  \''  judge  no  man. 


a  chaps.  1  ;  4  j  9  :  5  .  . .  b  ch.  12  :  35,  46 c  ch.  5  :  31 .  . . .  d  chaps.  7  :  28  ;  9  :  '29,  30 ....  e  chaps.  3  :  17  ;  12  :  47. 


divine  forgiveness  is  a  divine  life  in  the  for- 
given. 

Ch.  8  :  12-20.  CHRIST'S  DISCOURSE  CONCERNING 
HIMSELF.— He  is  light,  libbktt,  life.— He  gives 

LIGHT  TO  those  THAT  FOLLOW  HIS  EXAMPLE,  LIBERTY 
TO  THOSE  THAT  OBEY  HIS  WORD,  LIFE  TO  THOSE  THAT 
PUT   THEIR  FAITH    IN    HIM.— He    IS  ATTESTED   BY    HIS 

own  character  and  by  his  father's  wktness.— 
He  is  made  known  in  and  by  his  passion  and 
DEATH. — His  Father  is  the  source  of  his  teach- 
ing, his  works,  and  his  character. — His  charac- 
terization OF  WILFUL  OPPUGNERS  OP  THE  TRUTH  : 
■CHILDREN  OF   THE  WORLD  ;    CHILDREN  OF  THE    DEVIL. 

— Christ's  short  method  with  deists  (ver.  46).  See 
note  at  end  of  chapter. 

The  exact  chronology  of  the  events  from  this 
point  to  the  close  of  the  tenth  chapter  is  very 
nncertain  and  quite  unimportant.  One  charac- 
teristic feature  of  the  .feast  of  the  Tabernacles 
was  the  illumination  of  the  temple  ;  the  two 
great  candelabra  of  the  Court  of  the  Women 
were  lighted,  and  it  is  said  in  the  Rabbinical 
books  that  the  light  shone  aU  over  Jerusalem. 
Since  Christ  was  accustomed  to  take  his  text  from 
passing  events,  it  is  a  not  improbable  surmise 
that  this  illumination  afforded  the  suggestion  for 
the  discourse  on  the  divine  light  which  follows. 
The  illumination  of  the  temple  commemorated 
the  pillar  of  fire,  as  the  ceremony  of  drawing 
water  (see  ch.  7  :  3T,  etc.,  uotes)  Commemorated  the 
striking  of  the  rock  in  Horeb  and  the  gift  of  water 
from  it,  and  the  dwelling  in  booths  recalled  the 
time  when  Israel  dwelt  in  tents  and  booths  in  the 
wilderness.  We  may  therefore  see  in  Christ  an  an- 
titype of  the  fiery  cloud  that  guided  Israel  in  their 
pilgrimage,  and  in  the  Shechinah  filling  the  Taber- 
nacle (Exod.  40 :  34,  So),  an  Illustration  of  the  light 
which  Christ  imparts  to  those  that  follow  him. 

13.  I  am  the  light  of  the  Avorld.  The 
illumination  of  the  temple  lighted  Jerusalem ; 
that  of  the  fiery  cloud,  Israel.  Christ  is  the 
light,  not  merely  of  his  disciples,  or  of  the  Jew- 
ish nation,  but  of  the  luorUl,  a  word  which  here, 
as  always  in  the  N.  T,,  stands  for  the  whole  hu- 
man race.  Comp.  ch.  1  :  4,  9,  notes.  He  is  the 
light  as  well  as  the  life,  coming  to  instruct  as 
■well  as  to  revive ;  a  Saviour  from  ignorance  as 
weU  as  from  mlful  sin.  Therefore  no  ignorance 
or  doubt  need  keep  the  soul  that  desires  light 
away  from  Christ.  He  need  not  wait  for  instruc- 
tion, any  more  than  for  reformation,  before  he 
comes  to  Christ.— He  that  follows  me  need 
not  walk  in  darkness.    The  best  reading  is 


subjunctive,  not  indicative.  Following  Christ, 
not  believing  something  about  him,  is  the  way 
out  of  darkness  into  light.  Comp.  ch.  7  :  17,  and 
note  the  fact  that  in  no  single  instance  did  Christ 
call  on  any  one  of  his  disciples  to  form  correct 
opinions  about  him  before  becoming  his  follower. 
They  followed  first  and  learned  afterward.  Even 
he  who  doubts  whether  Christ  is  not  a  myth  can 
still  follow  the  ideal  life. — But  shall  have  the 
li^ht  of  life.  That  is,  the  light  which  guides 
and  nourishes  the  true,  the  spiritual  life.  Comp. 
ch.  6  :  48,  "bread  of  life."  See  Ps.  119  :  10,5, 
where  the  Bible  is  compared  to  a  lantern  carried 
to  light  the  path  on  a  dark  night.  He  is  a  light 
not  for  the  illumination  of  doubtful  questions  in 
science  or  metaphysics  or  abstract  theology,  but 
for  the  solution  of  practical  problems  in  the 
moral  and  spiritual  life. 

13,  14.  Thou  bearest  record  of  thyself; 
thy  record  is  not  true.  See  ch.  5  :  31,  note  ; 
perhaps  the  Pharisees  here  refer  to  Christ's  dec- 
laration there.  —  Though  I  bear  record  of 
myself,  yet  my  record  is  true  ;  for  I  know 
Avhence  I  have  come  (my  origin)  and  whith> 
er  I  go  (my  destiny).  In  general  no  man  can 
bear  testimony  of  himself,  however  truthful  he 
may  be,  for  no  man  understands  his  own  mission. 
He  may  faithfully  do  from  day  to  day  the  work 
which  God  gives  him  to  do,  and  yet  not  compre- 
hend the  relation  which  that  work  bears  to  the 
great  problems  of  life  and  destiny  which  the 
Eternal  Spirit  is  working  out  in  the  race.  But 
Christ  could  bear  record  of  himself,  for  he  knew 
himself ;  he  knew  the  Father ;  he  knew  his  own 
origin  and  his  oviu  destiny ;  and  he  knew  the 
relation  which  his  life  and  death  sustained  to  the 
world's  life. — Ye  know  not  (not  merely  cannot 
tell)  whence  I  am  coming  and  whither  I 
am  going.  Christ  knew  whence  he  ?md  come 
(>p.3-uy,  past  tense),  i.  e.,  from  the  glory  he  had 
with  the  Father  from  the  beginning  of  the  world 
(chaps.  1:1;  17 :  o) ;  the  Pharisces  did  not  know 
whence  he  was  ever  coming  {tQ/ouui,  present 
tense),  i.  c,  they  had  no  spiritual  sense  to  per- 
ceive and  appreciate  that  divine  grace  of  which 
he  was  ever  the  recipient,  and  that  constant 
communion  with  the  Father  from  which  he  was 
ever  bringing  divine  light  and  life  wherewith  to 
bless  his  followers. 

15,  16.  Ye  judge  according  to  the  flesh. 
They  therefore  rejected  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
Messiah,  because  he  did  not  come  with  the 
earthly  pomp,  or  bring  the  earthly  deliverance, 


110 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VIIL 


i6  And  yet  if  I  judge,  my '  judgment  is  true  :  for^  I 
am  not  alone,  but  I  and  the  Father  that  sent  me. 

17  It  is  also  written ''  in  your  law,  that  the  testimony 
of  two  men  is  true. 

18  I  am  one  that  bear  witness  of  myself,  and  the 
Father'  that  sent  me  beareth  witness  of  me. 

19  Then  said  tliey  unto  him,  Where  is  thy  Father? 
Jesus  answered,  Ye '  neither  know  me,  nor  my  Father : 


if"  ye  had  known  me,  ye  should  have  known  my  Fa- 
ther also. 

20  These  words  spake  Jesus  in  the  treasury,'  as  he 
taught  in  the  temple  :  and  no  man  laid  hands  on  him  ; 
for'"  his  hour  was  not  yet  come. 

21  Then  said  Jesus  again  unto  them,  I  go  my  way, 
and  ye"  shall  seek  me,  and"  shall  die  in  your  sins: 
whither  1  go,  ye  p  cannot  come. 


i  1  Snm.  16  .  7;  Ps.  45  :  6,  7;  72:  2. 
k  ch.  14:  7,  9....1  Mark  12  :41... 
p  Luke  16  :  26. 


veise  29  ;  ch.  16  .  32 h  Deut.  17  :  6  ;  19  :  15..   .i  ch.  5  :  37 j  verse  55  ;  chaps.  16  :  3  :  17  :  25... 

ch.  7  :30....n  ch.  7  :34....o  Job  20:  II  j  Ps.  73  :  18-20;   Prov.  14:32;  Isa.  65  :  20 ;  Ephes.  2  :  1... 


which  they  had  expected. — I  judge  no  one. 

Yet  his  fan  is  in  his  hand  ;  and  even  while  he 
lived  he  was  sifting  the  wheat  from  the  tares. 
He  judges  not ;  the  world  is  self-judged  and 
self-condemned.  Every  soul  that  rejects  the 
light  doth  thereby  write  its  own  condemnation. 
"Light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  loved 
darkness  rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds 
were  evil"  (John  3 :  19). — Yet  if  I  judge,  my 
judgment  is  true ;  for  I  am  not  alone,  but 
I  and  the  Father  that  sent  me.  Comp.  ch. 
5  :  30.  The  Spirit  of  the  Father,  given  without 
measure  to  Christ,  makes  his  spiritual  judgments 
absolutely  without  error.  In  the  measure  in 
which  this  spirit  is  received  and  followed  by  the 
disciple,  it  similarly  makes  the  disciple's  judg- 
ments true.  See  Matt.  16  :  19,  note  ;  John  20  : 
22  23. 

17-20.  Also  in  your  own  law.  Not  in  our 
law  ;  Christ  never  classes  himself  with  the  Jews, 
nor  counts  himself  as  under  their  law.  He 
obeys  it,  not  because  it  is  binding,  but  by  a  vol- 
untary subjection,  for  example's  sake  (Matt.  3 :  15; 
17 :  27).  The  reference  here  is  to  Deut.  17  :  6 ; 
19  :  15. — I  am  one  that  bear  witness  con- 
cerning myself.  Not  merely  nor  mainly  by 
words ;  for  Christ  said  comparatively  little  in 
public  concerning  his  character  ;  but  by  his  life 
and  works.  See  John  U  :  11. — And  the  Father 
that  sent  me  beareth  Avitness  of  me.  By 
direct  declarations  to  his  divine  character  and 
mission  (Matt.  3  :  i7;  John  12 :  28) ;  by  the  testimony 
of  prophets  and  apostles,  especially  of  John  the 

Baptist    (Luke  2  :  28-32,  38  ;    John    1  :  32-34,   36)  ;     by    the 

voice  of  angels  (Luke  2 : 9-14) ;  by  the  miracles 
wrought  (John  11 :  42) ;  but  still  more  by  that  man- 
ifestation of  the  divine  presence  which  made 
'itself  felt  in  many  ways  in  Christ's  person,  as  in 
his  attraction  of  publicans  and  sinners  to  him- 
self, his  expulsion  of  the  traders  from  the  tem- 
ple, his  passing  through  the  mob  at  Nazareth, 
etc.  Godet  tells  a  story  in  illustration  of  the 
power  of  this  witness  of  the  Spirit.  About  1660, 
Hedinger,  chaplain  to  the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg, 
took  the  liberty  of  censuring  his  sovereign,  at 
first  in  private,  but  afterward  in  public,  for  a 
serious  fault.  The  latter,  much  enraged,  sent 
for  him,  resolved  to  punish  him.  Hedinger, 
after  seeking  strength  by  prayer,  repaired  to  the 
prince,  the  expression  of  his  countenance  beto- 


kening the  peace  and  the  presence  of  God.  The 
prince,  after  looking  at  him  for  a  moment,  asked, 
in  agitation,  "Why  did  you  not  come  alone?" 
and  dismissed  him  unharmed.  The  vital  com- 
munion of  this  servant  of  God  with  his  G  od  was 
a  sensiBle  fact,  even  to  one  whom  anger  had  ex- 
asperated. Comp.  Acts  4  :  13  ;  6  :  15. — Who  is 
your  Father  ?  Asked,  not  in  perplexity,  for 
Christ's  reference  to  God  as  his  Father  had  been 
so  frequent  at  Jerusalem  that  they  could  not 
have  misunderstood  his  meaning,  but  in  scorn. 
Christ's  reply  is  adapted  to  the  spirit  of  their 
inquiry. — Ye  neither  know  me  nor  my  Fa- 
ther. They  gloried  in  being  the  peculiar  peo- 
ple of  God  ;  but  they  as  little  apprehended  him 
as  they  did  Christ  his  Son. — If  ye  had  known 
me  ye  would  have  known  my  Father  also. 
For  the  Son  is  the  way  to  the  Father.  The  con- 
verse of  this  proposition  is  also  true.  He  that 
knows  the  Father  will  know  the  Son.  Both  are 
known  by  the  spiritual  sense  ;  and  the  same  fac- 
ulty which  appreciates  the  divine  qualities  re- 
splendent in  the  Son  will  answer  to  and  be  ready 
to  receive  and  be  impressed  by  the  divine  quali- 
ties in  the  invisible  Spirit,  the  Father  whom  no 
one  hath  seen  or  can  see. — In  the  treasury. 
See  Luke  21  : 1,  note.  The  thirteen  trunks  or 
chests  placed  for  the  reception  of  the  gifts  of 
the  worshippers,  and  properly  called  the  treas- 
ury, were  in  the  Court  of  the  Women.  Each 
bore  an  inscription,  indicating  the  use  to  which 
the  money  placed  therein  was  devoted.  Proba- 
bly either  that  part  of  the  Women's  Court  where 
these  chests  stood,  or,  more  probably,  an  adjoin- 
ing apartment  used  in  connection  with  them, 
perhaps  where  the  money  was  kept,  was  also 
designated  the  treasury,  and  it  is  this  apartment 
that  is  indicated  by  the  word  here. — For  his 
hour  was  not  yet  come.  See  ch.  7  :  30,  note. 
21.  I  go  away.  Not  my  toay,  a  translation 
for  which  there  is  no  authority  whatever  in  the 
originaL — And  ye  shall  seek  me,  and  shall 
die  in  your  sins.  In  your  sins  means  not,  by 
reason  of  your  si7is,  but,  ivhile  continuing  in  a  state 
of  sin.  This  verse  is  not  to  be  taken  as  an  evi- 
dence that  a  sincere  and  contrite  seeking  of 
Christ  as  a  pardoning  and  redeeming  Saviour 
will  ever  be  in  vain.  It  is  interpreted  by  many  a 
so-called  death-bed  repentance,  in  which  deliver- 
ance from  a  future  penalty  is  sought,  without 


Ch.  VIII.  ] 


JOHN. 


Ill 


22  Then  said  the  Jews,  Will  he  kill  himself?  because 
he  saith,  Whither  I  go,  ye  cannot  come. 

23  And  he  said  unto  them.  Ye  are  from  beneath;  I 
am  from  above  :  ye  are  of  this  world  ;  I  am  not  of  this 
world. 

24  I  saidi  therefore  unto  you,  that  ye  shall  die  in 
your  sins  :  for  '  if  ye  believe  not  that  I  am  /le,  ye  shall 
die  in  your  sins. 


25  Then  said  they  unto  him.  Who  art  thou  ?  And 
Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Even  iAe  same  that  I  said  unto 
you  from  the  beginning. 

26  I  have  many  things  to  say  and  to  ludge  of  you  : 
but  ■^  he  that  sent  me  is  true ;  and  I  speak  to  the  world 
those  things  which  I  have  heard  of  him. 

27  They  understood  not  that  he  spake  to  them  of  the 
Father. 


q  verse  21  ....  r  Mark  16  :  16 . . . .  s  cb.  7  : : 


any  real  contrition  of  heart  for  past  sins.  But, 
coupled  with  the  next  clause,  it  seems  to  me 
strongly  opposed  to  the  doctrine  of  a  universal 
restitution. — Whither  I  aro  ye  cannot  come. 
Compare  ch.  7  :  o4,  "  Ye  shall  seek  me  and  shall 
not  find  me  ;  and  where  I  ain,  thither  ye  cannot 
come,"  and  contrast  ch.  1-1  :  3,  "I  will  come 
again  and  receive  you  unto  myself,  that  where  I 
am,  there  ye  may  be  also."  See  also  ch.  17  :  24. 
22-24.  Will  he  kill  himself?  This  they 
said  to  each  other,  partly  in  perplexity,  partly  in 
scorn.  Contrast  their  different  interpretation 
hut  similar  spirit  in  ch.  7  :  3.5.  Christ,  in  his 
reply,  repels  the  idea  that  he  had  referred  to  his 
death  ;  they  cannot  come  where  he  is  going,  he- 
cause  he  is  going  to  that  heaven  from  which  he 
first  came,  and  they  are  of  the  earth  earthJ^ 
Comp.  1  Cor.  15  :  50,  "Flesh  and  blood  cannot 
inherit  the  kingdom  of  God." — Ye  are  from 
beneath,  I  am  from  above.  This  statement 
is  interpreted  by  the  clause  which  follows. — Ye 
are  of  (from,  iic)  this  world,  I  am  not  of 
(from,  iy.)  this  world.  Man  is  born  of  the  flesh, 
and  therefore  is  flesh,  needing  to  be  born  anew 
and  from  above  in  order  to  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  (ch.  3 :  s,  6).  Christ  was  born,  even 
in  his  earthly  nature,  of  the  Spirit  (Luke  i :  35),  was 
from  his  birth  the  Son  of  God,  and  therefore  did 
not  need  to  experience  the  new  birth.  Though 
John  does  not  describe  his  supernatural  birth, 
he  recognizes  it.  Christ's  language  here  would 
be  incomprehensible  but  for  the  interpretation 
afforded  by  the  narratives  of  his  advent  in  Mat- 
thew and  Luke.  The  declaration  "Ye  are  from 
beneath"  here  is  not  equivalent  to  the  declara- 
tion of  ver.  44,  "  Ye  are  of  your  father  the  devil." 
Here  he  speaks  only  of  the  earthly  nature  inher- 
ited ;  there  of  the  wilful  sin  superadded. — If  ye 
believe  not  that  I  am,  ye  shall  die  in  your 
sins.  In  the  phrase  "I  am  "  there  is  a  reference 
to  Exod.  3  :  14,  and  the  language  implies  the 
divinity  of  Christ,  and  would  be  so  understood 
by  his  Jewish  auditors,  and  was  so  understood 
by  them.  See  ver.  38  and  note.  But  it  is  not 
equivalent  to  a  general  statement  that  belief  in 
the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  is  essential  to  salva- 
tion. It  was  addressed  to  men  who  had  abun- 
dant reason  to  believe  that  Christ  was  the  divine 
Messiah  of  prophecy,  and  who  were  wilfully 
ignorant  of  the  truth.  We  must  not  give  the 
words  any  wider  application  than  our  Lord  gave 


to  them  himself.  To  reject  Christ  is  fatal ;  to  be 
ignorant  of  him  is  not. 

25.  Who  art  thou  ?  A  question  asked  pos- 
sibly partly  in  perplexity  and  partly  in  scorn, 
but  moi'e  for  the  purpose  of  evoking  an  answer 
which  would  give  them  a  point  for  an  attack 
upon  Christ. — Even  the  same  that  I  said 
unto  you  from  the  beginning.  The  gram- 
matical difficulties  in  the  correct  rendition  of  this 
passage  are  almost  insuperable,  and  no  two 
scholars  give  exactly  the  same  shade  of  meaning 
to  it,  while  none  of  the  interpretations  afforded 
are  altogether  satisfactory,  even  to  the  inter- 
preter. The  principal  interpretations  are  :  (1) 
What  I  from  the  beginning  am  teaching  you?  do 
you  ask  that?  An  interrogative  expression  of 
surprise.  According  to  this  view  Christ  does  not 
answer  the  question  at  all.  (2)  Why  indeed  do  I 
still  speak  to  you  at  all?    A  language  of  reproach. 

(3)  JSven  the  same  that  I  said  %into  you  from  the  be- 
ginning, the  rendering  of  our  English  version. 

(4)  Essentially  that  ichich  also  I  discourse  to  you  ; 
i.  e.,  You  are  to  ascertain  my  nature  by  a  study 
of  my  discourses.  Neither  one  of  these  interpre- 
tations, it  will  be  seen,  affords  a  direct  answer  to 
the  question. 

26,  27.  Many  things  I  have  which  I 
might  say,  and  many  sentences  which  I 
might  pronounce  concerning  you.  The 
meaning  and  the  connection  is  obscure,  and  the 
translation  which  I  have  given  is  not  so  literal  as 
that  of  the  English  version.  But  Christ  else- 
where declares  that  he  has  not  come  to  judge 
the  world  (ver.  15 ;  chaps.  ^ :  n ;  12 : 4?),  and  to  Under- 
stand him  here  to  assert  the  contrary  makes  his 
utterances  contradictory,  Moreover,  if  we  in- 
terpret his  declaration  as  the  English  version 
does,  it  is  difficult  to  see  any  connection  with  the 
preceding  or  the  subsequent  clause.  I  under- 
stand therefore  that  he  means  that  he  has  many 
things  to  say,  and  many  judgments  formed  in 
his  own  mind,  w^hich  he  might  pronounce,  but 
that  he  will  only  speak  those  things  which  he  has 
been  commissioned  by  the  Father  to  speak  ;  and 
his  commission  at  this  time  is  not  to  judge,  but 
to  save  the  world. — They  understood  not 
that  he  spake  to  them  of  the  Father. 
Strange !  Less  strange,  perhaps,  than  it  now 
seems  to  us,  for  we  read  this  discourse  in  the 
light  of  eighteen  centuries  of  Christianity.  So 
far,  too,  Christ  had  not  designated  by  any  title 


112 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VIII. 


28  Then  said  Jesus  unto  them.  When  ye  have  lifted 
up  •  the  Son  of  man,  then  shall  ye  know  that  I  am  he, 
and  that  1  do  nothing  ot  myself;  but  as  my  Father 
hath  taught  me,  1  speak  these  things. 

29  And  he  that  sent  me  is  with  nie  :  the  Father  hath 
not  left  me  alone ;  for  I  do  always  those  things  that 
please  him. 

30  As  he  spake  these  words,  many"  believed  on  him. 


31  Then  said  Jesus  to  those  Jews  which  believed  on 
him,  If  ye  continue  *  in  my  word,  then  are  ye  my  dis- 
ciples indeed ; 

32  And  ye  shall  know  "'  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall 
make  you  free." 

33  They  answered  him,  We  be  Abraham's  seed,  and 
were  never  m  ^  bondage  to  any  man :  how  sayest  thou, 
Ye  shall  be  made  free  > 


t  chaps.  3  :  14  J    12  :  32. . .  .u  ch.  10  :  42 


Ro 


;  7  ;    C'l.  1  :  23;    Hfb.  10:  33,39... 


Rom.  6  :  14,  18,  22  ;  James  1  :  25  ;   2:12 y  Lev.  25  :  42. 


ch.   17  :  17;   Ps.   119:45; 


the  One  who  had  sent  him.  He  had  veiled  his 
meaning,  as  he  did  in  the  parables,  that  he  might 
not  be  fully  understood  at  once  ;  for  he  could 
hope  to  get  lodgment  for  the  truth  only  by  grad- 
ually unfolding  it.  "  There  is  no  accounting  for 
the  ignorance  ofiinbeHef,  as  any  minister  of  Christ 
knows  by  painful  experience." — {Alforcl.) 

28-30.  When  ye  have  lifted  up  the  Son 
of  man.  The  phrase  Son  of  man  was  used  by 
the  rabbis,  who  borrowed  it  from  David,  for  the 
Messiah  (see  Matt.  10 :  23,  note).  The  Greek  verb  here 
rendered  lifted  up  (vxpow)  is  used  by  John  only 
with  reference  to  the  crucifixion  (chaps.  3 :  u ;  s :  28 ; 
12 :  32, 34),  but  everywhere  else  in  the  N.  T.  is  used 
in  the  sense  of  exalted,  and  is  so  translated  except 
in  James  4  :  10.  See  Matt.  11  :  23  ;  Luke  1  :  52 ; 
Acts  2  :  33  ;  5  :  31,  etc.  This  fact  is  of  itself  an 
indication  that  John's  Gospel  was  written  after 
the  cross  had  been  seen  to  be  the  means  by 
which  Christ  was  himself  exalted,  his  giory,  not 
his  shame.  It  is  the  cross  which  has  led  to  his 
recognition  among  men  as  the  Son  of  God  (Mark 
15 :  39 ;  1  Cor.  1  :  23, 24) ;  to  his  exaltation  by  the  Fa- 
ther (Phu.  2 : 8-10) ;  to  his  adoration  in  heaven  (Rev. 
5 :  12). — Ye  shall  know  that  I  am.  See  on 
ver.  24.  The  passion  and  death  of  Christ  is  the 
attestation  of  his  divinity  (Mark  15  :  39). — I  do 
nothing  of  myself;  but  as  the  Father  hath 
taught  me  I  speak  these  things.  In  Christ's 
time  the  things  do>ie,  i.  e.,  the  miracles,  were 
recognized  as  signs  of  divine  presence  and  power ; 
more  and  more  the  words  spoken  are  recog- 
nized as  still  greater  signs  of  the  divine  presence 
and  power.  The  word  is  more  than  the  external 
work,  the  truth  is  greater  than  the  miracle. — 
He  that  sent  me  is  with  me.  The  Son  is  a 
manifestation  of  the  Father,  because  the  Father 
is  ever  in  and  working  and  speaking  through  the 
Son.  He  is  not  merely,  an  ambassador  sent  by, 
he  is  a  tabernacle  in  which  dwells,  the  Eternal 
King.  So  Christ,  who  sends  forth  his  disciples 
(ch.  17 ;  is),  is  ever  with  them  (ch.  14  :  n,  23 ;  Matt.  2S  ;  20). 
— The  Father  hath  not  left  me  alone ;  for 
I  do  those  things  that  please  him  always. 
Always  is  emphatic.  In  this  uniformity  of  obe- 
dience to  the  Father's  will  is  the  secret  of  the 
abiding  of  his  presence  ;  it  is  true  for  us,  as  for 
Christ,  that  doing  the  Father's  pleasure  secures 
the  divine  fellowship  (chaps.  14 :  21 ;  15  :  10). — Many 
believed  on  him.     Comp.  ch.  12  :  42.     Faith, 


like  knowledge,  is  of  different  degrees,  and  the 
quality  of  this  faith  is  not  indicated.  It  may 
have  been  like  the  seed  received  on  stony  places 
(Matt.  13 :  20, 2i).  But  bcwarc  of  understanding 
here,  or  anywhere,  by  this  phrase  a  mere  intel- 
lectual belief  in  Christ  as  either  Rabbi,  Prophet, 
or  Messiah.  To  believe  on  always  signifies  an 
emotion  or  heart  action.  "  Our  Lord's  words 
did  not  appeal  to  the  und^^-standing  ;  they  were 
not  argumentative  ;  we  cannot  account  for  their 
influence  by  any  processes  of  logic.  So  far  as  we 
can  judge  from  a  very  simple  statement,  they 
went  straight  to  the  heart ;  the  faith  which  they 
called  forth  was  a  faith  of  the  heart." — {Mau- 
rice. ) 

31-33.  If  ye  continue  in  my  word,  then 
are  ye  my  disciples  indeed.  A  promise  and 
a  condition.  The  thing  promised  is  discipleship. 
"  They  should  be — what  ?  Saints  ?  divines  ?  doc- 
tors ?  No ;  but  what  is  much  better  than  any  of 
the  three — what  all  the  three  should  wish  to  be 
raised  into — disciples.  They  will  then  be  learners, 
learners  sitting  continually  at  the  feet  of  the  time 
Teacher." — {Maurice.)  The  theology  of  Christ  is  a 
progressive  theology ;  the  promise  to  his  followers 
is  not  that  they  shall  be  learned,  acquiring  the 
truth  once  for  aU,  but  learners,  ever  acquiring  it 
more  and  more.  This  promise  is  conditioned  on 
— what?  Receiving  his  word?  defending  his 
word?  No;  but  abiding  in  his  word,  i.  e.,  liv- 
ing, moving,  and  having  their  being  in  it.  The 
word  of  Christ  cannot  be  accepted  once  for  all ; 
the  soul,  to  be  nourished  on  it,  must  abide  in  it, 
as  the  body  abides  in  and  is  nourished  by  the 

atmosphere    (comp.  chaps.  5  :  38  ;   6  :  66;    15  :  4-10  ;    1  John 

2 :  6,  10,  14,  etc. ;  3 :  6).  To  be  Christ's  disciplcs  in- 
deed, we  must  continue  (Matt.  13 :  20,  21  ;  John  6  :  66  ;  Col. 
1  :  23;  Heb.  10  :  38  ;  Rev.  2  :  7-11,  I7)  in  (John  15  :  1-7;  Rom. 
8:9;  Gal.  2  :  20 ;  Col.  1  :  27)  the  WOrd  of  CllHst  (Matt.  11  :  29, 

30;  1  Cor.  3:11;  Gal.  1 :  s). — And  yc  shall  kuow  the 

truth.  Living  according  to  the  word  of  Christ 
is  the  condition  precedent  to  a  true  apprehension 
of  the  truth.  Christ  teaches  that  life  precedes 
creed ;  the  church  has  too  often  reversed  this, 
making  the  creed  precede  life.  But  a  creed  that 
does  not  grow  out  of  spiritual  experience  is 
dead.  There  is  no  virtue  in  the  doctrine  of  na- 
tive depravity  except  as  an  outgrowth  of  per- 
sonal humility  ;  nor  in  belief  in  a  personal  God, 
except  as  it  is  rooted  in  a  living  experience  of 


Ch.  VIIL] 


JOHN. 


113 


34  Jesus  answered  them,  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
you.  Whosoever^  committeth  sin  is  the  servant  of  sin. 

35  And  the  servant '  abideth  not  in  the  house  for 
ever:  but  the  Son  abideth  ever. 


36  If"  the  Son  therefore  shall  make  you  free,  ye"= 
shall  be  free  indeed. 

37  I  know  that  ye  are  Abraham's  seed  :  but  ye  seek 
to  kill  me,  because  my  word  hath  no  place  in  you. 


z  Rom.  6  :  16,  20 ;  2  Pet.  2:19 a  Gal.  4  :  30 b  Isa.  61  :  1  ....  c  Rom.  8:2;  Gal.  5:1. 


faith  in  him. — And  the  truth  shall  make 
you  free.  This,  too,  the  church  has  often  re- 
versed, bringing  men  into  bondage  unto  a  creed, 
instead  of  using  the  creed  as  an  instrument  to 
enlarge  their  intellectual  independence.  —  We 
be  Abraham's  seed,  and  were  never  in 
bonda£;e  to  any  one.  This  is  the  language  of 
pride,  and  it  is  not  more  true  than  the  language 
of  pride  is  ordinarily.  Politically  the  nation  had 
been  in  bondage  to  Babylon,  Persia,  Greece, 
Rome.  Spiritually  it  had  been  in  bondage  to 
idolatries  in  past  times,  e.  g. ,  the  reign  of  Manas- 
seh,  and  was  now  in  bondage  to  the  rabbis,  liter- 
aJists  in  interpretation,  and  without  spirituality 
or  sympathy  (Matt.  23 : 4).  Christ,  however,  rarely 
enters  into  argument ;  he  makes  no  attempt  to 
refute  their  statement,  pays  no  heed  to  their  in- 
terruption, but  goes  on  with  his  discourse. 

34-36.  Whosoever  committeth  sin  (lives 
in  the  commission  of  sin)  is  the  slave  (not  ser- 
vant) of  sin.  He  is  in  bondage  to  sin.  For  ac- 
tion forms  habit,  and  habit  becomes  second 
nature.  Thus  every  sinful  act  tends  to  bring  the 
soul  into  bondage  to  the  law  of  evil  habit. 
Striking  illustrations  of  this  law  of  human  nature 
are  afforded  by  self-indulgence  in  appetite  ;  but 
the  same  principle  is  involved  in  all  evil-doing — 
it  tends  to  fasten  evil  habits  on  the  soul.  See 
Rom.  6  :  16-18  ;  7  :  9-34.  And  this  law  belongs 
to  human  nature  ;  it  is  equally  operative  in  Jew 
and  Gentile,  in  church-member  and  in  man  of 
the  world.  Every  sin  helps  to  weld  a  chain. — 
The  slave  abideth  not  in  the  house  for- 
ever, but  the  Son  abideth  ever.  The  lan- 
guage is  parabolic  ;  the  meaning  seems  to  me  to 
be  this :  The  world  is  in  bondage ;  it  seems  to  be 
under  Satan;  his  promise  to  Christ,  "All  these 
things  will  I  give  thee  if  thou  wilt  fall  down  and 
worship  me,"  appears  not  like  a  vain  promise. 
But  this  bondage  is  short-lived.  The  kingdoms 
of  the  world  are  in  truth  the  kingdoms  of  the 
Lord  and  of  his  Christ.  He  shall  reign  forever 
and  forever  (Rev.  11  :  15).  He,  therefore,  who 
yields  to  the  yoke  of  bondage  by  conforming  to 
the  world  gets  only  a  brief  advantage,  for  the 
period  of  bondage  to  sin  and  Satan  will  soon  be 
•over.  He  that  accepts  Christ  as  his  Lord,  and 
acknowledges  allegiance  to  him,  will  have  an 
eternal  freedom  in  the  house  which  God  has 
built,  and  over  which  Christ  is  to  have  eternal 
rule  (Heb.  3 : 2-6).  The  world  is  God's  house,  not 
Satan's. — If  the  Son  therefore  shall  make 
you  free.  From  past  penalty,  by  himself  bear- 
ing it  for  us  ;  from  the  bondage  of  sin,  by  giving 


us  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God ;  from  the 
law,  by  imparting  to  us  a  new  spiritual  life. 
See  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  especially 
chaps,  4  and  5,  which  may  be  regarded  as  his  ser- 
mon on  this  text. — Ye  shall  be  free  indeed. 
Made  free  by  the  truth  (ver.  32)  as  it  is  in  Christ 
Jesus.  For  freedom  is  not  independence  of  all 
law — that  never  is  and  never  can  be ;  God  him- 
self is  not  thus  free ;  it  is  the  comprehension 
and  the  right  use  of  law.  We  are  free  when  we 
perfectly  comprehend  the  laws  of  nature,  i.  e.,  of 
God,  perfectly  and  cheerfully  comply  with  them, 
and  so  know  how  to  get  the  advantage  and  profit 
of  them.  All  progress  in  material  civilization 
has  been  attained  by  increasing  knowledge  of 
the  divine  laws,  and  consequently  an  increased 
use  of  them.  We  have  yet  to  learn  the  gain  that 
there  is  in  a  similar  comprehension  of  and  obe- 
dience to  the  intellectual  and  the  spiritual  laws 
of  the  universe.  Thus  it  is  that  the  truth  makes 
free  (ver.  32). 

37,  38.  I  know  that  ye  are  Abraham's 
seed.  Not  equivalent  to  /  know  that  ye  regard 
yourselves  as  Abraham'' s  seed.  The  reference  is  to 
the  covenant  with  Abraham  (cen.  12 : 1-3 ;  n  :  4-8), 
which  involved  a  promise  of  divine  protection 
and  blessing  to  the  nation.  The  Pharisees  ad- 
here to  the  idea  of  political  freedom.  Christ 
assents  to  their  declaration  that  they  are  the 
seed  referred  to  in  that  covenant,  but  returns  to 
the  spiritual  idea  which  underlies  his  discourse, 
and  emphasizes  the  extent  to  which,  in  charac- 
ter, they  have  wandered  from  the  pattern  set  by 
Abraham. — Nevertheless  {uUa,  notwithstand- 
ing you  arc  Abraham's  seed)  ye  seek  to  kill 

me    (chaps.  7  •  1,  19,  32;   8  :  69  ;   10  :  31,  39).       To    Whom 

were  these  words  spoken  ? — to  the  believing 
Judeans  mentioned  in  ver.  30,  or  to  enemies  ? 
The  true  answer  is  that  believers  and  unbelievers 
were  intermixed  in  the  crowd,  and  that  it  is  as 
little  possible  for  the  reader  now  as  it  would 
have  been  for  the  observer  then  to  distinguish 
between  them. — Because  my  word  makes  no 
progress  in  you.  They  heard  it — nay,  crowded 
round  him  to  hear  it,  were  willing  and  interested 
listeners.  But  the  truth  did  not  get  entrance 
into  their  hearts,  nor  permeate  their  character. 
It  was  not  like  the  leaven  hid  in  three  meas- 
ures of  meal.  They  were  thus  a  type  of  many 
modem  hearers  who  listen  to  the  truth,  but  in 
whom  the  truth  does  not  work.  The  words  ren- 
dered hath  no  place  {ov  /uiQii)  signify,  literally, 
does  not  work,  spread,  go  foruard. — I  do  that 
Avhich  I  have  seen  with  my  Father,  and 


114 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  VIII. 


38  I  <"  speak  that  which  I  have  seen  with  my  Father  : 
and  ye  do  that  which  ye  have  seen  with  your  father. 

39  They  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Abraham'  is 
our  father.  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  If  ye  were  Abra- 
ham's children,  ye  would  do  the  works  of  Abraham. 

40  But  now  ye  seek  to  kill  me,  a  man  that  hath  told 
you  the  truth,  which  I  have  heard  of  God :  this?  did 
not  Abraham. 

41  Ye  do  the  deeds  of  your  father.    Then  said  they 


to  him.  We  be  not  born  of  fornication  ;  v/e*'  have  one 
Father,  ez'en  God. 

42  Jesus  said  unto  them,  If'  God  were  your  Father, 
ye  would  love  me  :  tor  I  proceeded  forth  and  came 
from  God  ;  neither  came  I  of  myself,  but  J  he  sent  me. 

43  Why  do  ye  not  understand  my  speech  ?  even  be- 
cause ye  cannot  heai  my''  word. 

44  Ye'  are  o{ your  father  the  devil,  and  the  lusts  of 
your  father  ye  will  do.    He  was  a  murderer  from  the 


d  ch.  14:  10,  24.. 


3    9. . .  .f  Rom.  5  :  28,  29  ;   9:7;   Gnl.  3  : 
1  Juhu  5:1 j  ch.  17  :  8,25...  k  Isa.  ( 


ye  do  that  which  ye  have  heard  with  your 
father  {iji^nvnuTi,  heard,  not  sco^axars,  see7i,  is  the 
better  reading).  Christ  approaches  a  truth  whose 
depths,  in  our  ignorance  of  the  spirit  world,  we 
cannot  sound.  This  is  that  every  soul  draws  its 
inspiration  from  an  invisible  world — cither  be- 
longs to  the  kingdom  of  light  and  is  taught  of 
God,  or  belongs  to  the  kingdom  of  darkness  and 
is  taught  of  evil  spirits.  The  unseen  compan- 
ions of  the  soul  are  the  most  influential.  Demo- 
niacal possession  is  only  an  exceptional  fruitage 
of  a  universal  demoniacal  inspiration.  See  below, 
on  ver.  M. 

39,  40.  Abraham  is  our  father.  They 
recognize,  as  we  all  recognize,  that  there  is  a 
source  from  which  are  drawn  the  ideas  and  the 
influences  which  mould  our  character.  This 
fountain  is,  according  to  their  conception,  Abra- 
hamic.  It  is  true  that  character  is  moulded  by 
national  influences  ;  but  these  are  not  the  pro- 
foundest  nor  the  most  potent.  —  If  ye  were 
Abraham's  children  ye  would  do  the 
Avorks  of  Abraham.  Seed  they  are,  children 
they  are  not.  Descendants  ?  yes  !  disciples  ?  no  ! 
They  do  not  do  that  which  they  have  heard  from 
Abraham.  We  are  the  children  of  a  noble  ances- 
try, the  Reformers,  the  Puritans,  and  the  like, 
only  as  we  show  their  spirit  in  dealing  with  the 
men  and  the  problems  of  our  own  time. — This 
did  not  Abraham.  Called  of  God  to  leave  his 
country,  and  his  kindred,  and  his  father's  house, 
he  did  not  resist,  but  left  all  to  go  out,  not 
knowing  whither  he  went.  Abraham  obeyed  the 
divine  message  ;  the  seed  of  Abraham  would  kill 
the  divihe  messenger. 

41,  42.  Ye  do  the  deeds  of  your  father. 
A  generic  truth ;  the  spiritual  paternity  of  any 
soul  may  be  known  by  its  deeds ;  the  source  of 
its  life  is  witnessi'd  by  the  life  itself. — We  be 
not  born  of  fornication.  It  is  a  Jewish 
legend  to  this  day  that  Jesus  was  bom  of  adul- 
tery. This  is  the  Jewish  explanation  of  his  pre- 
marital birth.  I  believe  that  this  legend  had 
been  invented  in  Christ's  own  time  to  account 
for  his  supernatural  birth,  and  that  the  expres- 
sion here  is  a  scornful  allusion  to  this  dishonor- 
ing report.  This,  at  least,  though  I  do  not  find 
it  suggested  by  any  of  the  commentaries,  seems 
to  me  the  most  natural  explanation  of  the  lan- 
guage of  the   Pharisees,  which  has  given  the 


scholars  no  little  difHculty.  Other  explanations 
suggested — e.  r/.,  that  Sarah  was  not  an  adulter- 
ess, and  therefore  the  Jews  were  certainly  chil- 
dren of  Abraham  {3Ieyer),  or  that,  unlike  the 
Samaritans,  there  was  no  taint  of  heathen  blood 
in  their  veins  {Alford,  Godet) — seem  to  me  unnat- 
ural and  far-fetched,  and  are  apparently  not  very 
satisfactory  even  to  those  who  suggest  them. — 
VVe  have  one  Father,  even  God.  They 
abandon  their  claim  to  have  derived  their  life 
from  Abraham,  and  substitute  a  claim  to  derive 
it  from  the  God  of  Abraham.  Or  we  may  sup- 
pose that,  the  first  interlocutors  being  silenced, 
others  make  this  assertion. — If  God  were  your 
Father  ye  Avould  love  me.  The  practical 
and  present  application  is  that  every  soul  whose 
life  is  truly  rooted  in  God  will  be  drawn  toward 
Christ  by  spiritual  sympathy. — For  I  came 
forth  and  am  here  from  God.  The  first  verb 
{i^illd-iiv)  indicates  Christ's  coming  forth  from  the 
glory  which  Christ  had  with  the  Father  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world  (John  n  ;  s) ;  the  second 
verb  (Jixui,  present  formed  from  a  perfect)  indi- 
cates the  perpetual  presence  of  the  Father  with 
Christ,  and  Christ's  continuous  manifestation  of 
the  Father  to  the  world. — Neither  came  I 
of  myself.  Therefore  that  phase  of  theology 
which  represents  the  Son  as  interceding  to  make 
a  just  God  merciful,  and  thus  induce  him  to  for- 
give the  sinful,  is  thoroughly  false.  The  mercy 
of  Christ  originated  with  the  Father ;  the  mis- 
sion of  Christ  was  wrought  out  by  the  Father. 
Christ  came  not  of  his  ovm  will,  but  of  the  Fa- 
ther's.    See  chaps.  3  :  16,  note  ;  0  :  38,  note. 

43,  44.  Why  do  ye  not  understand  my 
speech  ?  He  has  thus  far  spoken  parabolically, 
as  though  reluctant  to  characterize  them  openly 
as  children  of  the  devil.  He  now  abandons  the 
dark  saying,  and  speaks  plainly.— Even  because 
ye  cannot  hear  my  word.  Word  is  the  doc- 
trine taught,  speech  is  the  form  in  which  it  is 
clothed  ;  to  hear  is  to  receive  with  the  heart,  as 
in  Matt.  13  :  16,  20 ;  John  5  :  24 ;  8  :  47,  etc.  ;  to 
understand  is  to  comprehend  intellectually.  The 
implication  then  is  that  he  who  is  unwilling  to 
receive  and  act  upon  the  doctrine  of  Christ  in 
his  heart  and  life  cannot  comprehend  the  forms 
in  which  it  is  couched.  The  declaration  is  thus 
the  converse  of  ch.  7  :  17.— Ye  are  from  your 
father  the  devil.     God  is  the  Father  of  Christ, 


Ch.  VIIL] 


JOHN. 


115 


beginning,  and  abode  ■"  not  in  the  truth,  because  there 
is  no  truth  in  him.  When  he  speaketh  a  lie,  he  speak- 
eth  of  his  own  :  for  he  is  a  liar,  and  the  father  of  it. 

45  And  because  "  1  tell  you  the  truth,  ye  believe  me 
not. 


46  Which  of  you  convinceth  ■>  me  of  sin?    And  if  I 
say  the  truth,  why  do  ye  not  believe  me  ? 

47  He  that  is  of  God  heareth  God's  words :  ye  there- 
fore hear  them  not,  because  ye  are  not  of  God. 

48  Then  answered  the  Jews,  and  said  unto  him.  Say 


m  Jade  6 n  Gal.  4  :  16 ;  2  Tbess.  3  :  10 0  Heb.  4  •  15. 


and  of  all  those  who  through  faith  in  Christ  are 
born  again ;  they  become  by  adoption  his  chil- 
dren (Rom.  8 :  15-17),  are  sent  into  the  world  by  their 
Father  (ch.  n  :  is),  and  manifest  their  Father  unto 
the  world  (Phu.  2 :  15).  In  like  manner  they  that 
resist  the  truth  are  children,  by  their  own  choice, 
of  the  devil,  commissioned  by  him,  serving  him, 
and  manifesting  his  spirit,  in  their  selfishness, 
cupidity,  malice,  and  all  uncharitableness.  In 
each  case  the  soul  derives  its  spirit  from  its  own 
chosen  father.  The  whole  contrast  would  be 
almost  meaningless  if  by  the  devil  Christ  under- 
stood only  a  poetic  personification  of  evil  in  hu- 
man nature.  There  are  two  households,  one  of 
God,  the  other  of  Satan ;  two  churches,  one  of 
truth  and  love,  the  other  of  falsehood  and  ma- 
lignity. "This  verse  is  one  of  the  most  decisive 
testimonies  for  the  objective  personality  of  the 
devil.  It  is  quite  impossible  to  suppose  an  ac- 
commodation to  Jewish  views,  or  a  metaphorical 
form  of  speech,  in  so  solemn  and  direct  an  asser- 
tion as  this." — {Alford.^ — The  will  (lusts  is  too 
narrow  a  word  ;  the  original  signifies  earnest  de- 
sire, but  generally  of  a  bad  sort)  of  your  father 
ye  are  determined  to  do.  Literally,  will  to 
do.  Kesolute  determination  to  evil  is  clearly 
indicated  by  the  form  of  the  sentence  {9i^tt£ 
nottir).  The  language  of  Christ  here,  therefore, 
does  not  apply  to  sins  of  ignorance  and  inatten- 
tion. He  is  speaking  to  wilful  opposers  of  the 
truth. — He  was  a  murderer  from  the  be- 
ginning. Not  because  he  inspired  Cain's  mur- 
der of  his  brother  Abel,  but  because,  from  the  very 
outset,  he  endeavored  to  seduce  into  disobedience, 
and  so  to  destroy,  the  human  race.  His  declara- 
tion "  Ye  shall  not  surely  die  "  (cen.  3  -.  4)  was  not 
merely  a  lie,  but  a  lie  having  for  its  object  the 
death  of  mankind. — Stood  not  in  the  truth. 
It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  here  a  reference  to 
the  fall  of  the  devil.  So  Augustine  and  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  commentators  generally ;  contra, 
Meyer,  Alford,  and  the  modems.  Satan  was  in 
a  high  position,  but  he  did  not  stand,  because 
truth  was  not  his  foundation,  and — Because 
truth  is  not  in  him.  No  definite  article  is 
appended  to  truth  here.  Satan  did  not  stand 
on  the  truth  of  God,  because  in  him,  in  his 
inner  character,  truth  found  no  place.  We  can 
only  stand  by  the  truth  when  truth  is  in  our  in- 
ward ]Mrts  (ps.  51  ;  6),  i.  e.,  in  our  desires  and  our 
affections.  The  truth  must  be  i?i  us  to  be  under 
us.— He  speaketh  of  his  own.  Out  of  (ix) 
his  own  treasury  of  evil  things.    So  the  evil  man. 


out  of  the  evil  treasure,  bringeth  forth  evil 
things  (Matt.  12  ■  36). — For  he  is  a  liar,  and  the 
father  of  it.  Or  of  Mm;  either  the  father  of 
lyiny  or  the  father  of  the  liar.  Either  rendering 
is  grammatically  possible.  The  latter  better  fits 
the  context. 

45-47.  But  because  I  tell  you  the  truth 
ye  believe  me  not.  "A  thoroughly  tragical 
because ;  it  has  its  ground  in  the  alien  character 
of  the  relation  between  that  which  Jesus  speaks 
and  their  devUish  nature,  to  which  latter  a  lie 
alone  corresponds." — {Meyer.)  Truth  has  not 
always  its  evidence  in  human  nature  ;  for  human 
nature  may  be  so  warped  as  to  be  more  ready  to 
believe  a  lie  than  the  truth  (Rom.  1 ;  21 ;  Ephes.  4 :  is ; 
2  Thess.  2 :  u).  If  Christ  had  told  a  lie  they  would 
have  believed  him,  just  as  many  of  those  who 
now  rejected  him  did  subsequently  believe  the 
false  Christs  of  a  later  date. — Which  of  you 
convinceth  me  of  sin.  Not  of  error  {Calvin), 
but  of  sin  {Alford,  Godet,  Mei/er).  Indeed,  ei-ror 
in  Christ's  teaching  in  this  matter  would  be  sin; 
for  if  his  declaration  respecting  himself,  that  he 
came  not  from  the  earth  but  from  above,  from 
the  Father,  and  was  the  long-anticipated  Mes- 
siah, was  not  true,  it  would  have  been  false  and 
fraudulent — not  merely  a  mistake,  but  a  lie.  By 
this  question  he  asserts,  by  implication,  his  sin- 
lessness  ;  he  defies  his  opponents  to  point  out  a 
single  sin  in  his  life,  a  single  flaw  in  his  charac- 
ter. And  they  were  speechless,  as  scepticism 
has  been  ever  since,  before  his  incomparable 
character.  The  argument  is  this :  If  I  am  not 
the  Son  of  God,  find  out  some  human  defect  that 
indicates  a  human  origin  and  kinship.  And  this 
has  never  been  done.  I  imagine  a  pause,  a  mo- 
ment's expressive  silence,  no  answer  from  the 
Pharisees,  and  then  the  crushing  words  that  fol- 
low, calmly  uttered  : — If  I  say  the  truth,  why 
do  ye  not  believe  ?  He  that  is  of  God — as 
the  Pharisees  had  claimed  to  be  (ver.  4i) — hear- 
eth (receiveth)  God's  words;  ye  therefore 
hear  them  not,  because  ye  are  not  of  God. 
This  is  Christ's  method  with  deists.  Point  out  a 
single  flaw  in  his  stainless  character.  Tou  can- 
not? Then  at  least  listen  with,  reverent  atten- 
tion to  the  words  of  the  sinless  man.  To  refuse 
a  hearing  to  such  an  one  demonstrates  hostility 
to  purity  and  truth,  and  so  to  God, 

48-50.  Say  Ave  not  well  thou  art  a  Sa- 
maritan and  hast  an  evil  spirit  ?  The 
Jews  take  to  the  common  resort  of  men  silenced 
and  convinced  against  their  will ;  they  reply  to 


116 


JOHX. 


[Ch.  VIIL 


we  not  well  that  thou  art  a  Samaritan,  andi>  hast  a 
devil  ? 

40  Jesus  answered,  I  have  not  a  devil ;  but  I  honour 
my  Faiher.  and  ye  do  dishonour  me. 

50  And  1 1  seek  not  mine  own  glory :  there  is  one 
that  seeketh  and  judgeth. 


51  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  If  a  man  keep  my 
sayinsr,  he  shall  never  see  death. 

52  Then  said  the  Jews  unto  him,  Now  we  know  that 
thou  hast  a  devil.  Abraham  is  dead,'  and  the  proph- 
ets ;  and  thou  sayest.  If  a  man  keep  my  saying,  he 
shall  never  taste  of  death, 


p  ch. 


.  q  ch.  5  :  11 . 


argument  by  calling  names.  Deril  is  an  unfor- 
tunate translation,  giving  the  English  reader  the 
impression  that  they  use  the  same  word  which 
Christ  has  used  in  ver.  44.  Their  word  is  demon 
{daiuouot),  and  siguiries  primarily,  in  classic 
usage,  a  tutelary  demon  or  genius ;  in  X.  T. 
usage,  an  evil  spirit.  These  spirits  are  represent- 
ed as  fallen  angels  (s  Pet,  2  :  4;  Jnde  6),  subject  to 

Satan  (^Matt,  9  -.  &*-,   -25  -.  i\;   3  Cor.  li  :  7  ;  Rev.  12  :  9),  pOS- 

sessing  the  power  of  working  miracles  (Rev.  le :  u\ 
dwelling  in  the  idols  of  the  heathen  and  uttering 
the  heathen  responses  and  oracles  (Acts  is :  i; ;  i  Cor. 
10  :  »;  Rev.  9 :  -»),  and  the  authors  of  evil  to  man- 
kind  (J  Cor.  IS  :  7;   1  Tim.  4  :  l).      See   ffob.    LcX.,  art. 

daiuortor.  The  Charge  had  before  been  made  by 
the  Pharisees  that  Christ  cast  out  devils  by 
Beelzebub  the  prince  of  devils  (Matt,  is :  n).  It  is 
no:  necessary  to  trace  any  connection  between 
the  two  epithets  a  Samaritan  and  pos^'^fsiiuig  a 
demon.  Passion  is  never  coherent.  The  lan- 
guage is  wild,  bitter,  passionate,  but  illogical 
and  inconsequential. — I  have  not  a  devil  * 
*  *  *  ye  do  dishonor  me.  He  passes  by 
the  charge  of  being  a  Samaritan  in  silence,  for 
the  author  of  the  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan 
refuses  to  recognize  opprobrium  in  it ;  he  calmly 
denies  the  charge  of  having  a  demon,  and  de- 
clares that  by  the  discourses  which  they  attribute 
to  a  demon  he  honors  the  Father,  while  they 
dishonor  him.  Peter's  declaration  (i  Pet.  s  :  ss), 
"WTio,  when  he  was  reviled,  reviled  not  again, 
but  committed  himself  to  him  that  judgeth 
righteously,"  is  illustrated  by  Christ's  response 
here.  Contrast  his  indignation  at  the  wrong 
done  to  others  (Man.  is  -.  u.  15.  ss,  etc.)  with  his  mild- 
ness when  wrong  is  done  to  himself.  And  the 
next  verse  gives  the  secret  reason  of  his  calm- 
ness.— I  am  not  seekinsr  my  own  glory. 
Therefore  he  is  comparatively  indLfiferent  to 
public  abuse  and  dishonor. — There  is  one  who 
seeks  and  judges.  Because  God  cares  for  the 
honor  of  his  children,  they  can  well  be  vmcon- 
cemed  respecting  it ;  because  God  judges  them 
righteously,  they  can  well  disregard  the  unright- 
eous judgments  of  men. 

51.  Verily,  verily.  With  Calvin  and  Go- 
det,  I  regard  Christ's  discourse  to  his  opponents 
as  ended  with  the  preceding  verse.  Recognizing 
the  fact  that  some  of  his  auditors  have  been 
inclined  toward  him,  though  with  but  a  feeble 
faith,  he  addresses  them  in  the  words  that  follow, 
that  he  may  strensthen  their  faith.    The  coimee- 


tion  which  Alford  and  Meyer  endeavor  to  trace 
between  this  and  the  preceding  verse  I  cannot 
perceive  :  e.  g.,  "Ye  are  now  the  children  of  the 
devil ;  but  if  ye  keep  my  word  ye  shall  be  res- 
cued from  that  murderer." — {Afford.)  The  very 
words  with  which  Christ  begins  the  sentence, 
"Verily,  verily"  («<<','•  ••'"','),  indicate  a  new 
topic. — If  any  oue.  Emphasis  is  put  on  the 
pronoun.  The  promise  is  universal ;  it  embraces 
Jew  and  Gentile. — Keep  my  word.  Keep,  as 
a  guard  his  prisoner,  ^\"ith  watchfulness  (Matt. 
19 :  17,  nou),  agaiust  all  seductions  and  assaults  ; 
(JhrisVs  word,  that  which  he  had  taught,  and  there- 
fore pre-eminently  that  faith  in  him  as  a  divine 
Saviour  which  had  been  the  jire-eminent  theme  of 
his  teaching.  We  are  to  keep  not  merely  the  say- 
ings in  manon/,  or  the  teaching  in  the  heart,  but, 
with  sentiments  of  reverence  and  affection,  the 
truth  in  our  life,  both  in  the  inward  experience 
and  in  the  outward  conduct. — Shall  not  see 
death  for  ever.  Not,  Sliall  not  see  eternal  death, 
but,  SJiall  never  see  death.  "The  death  of  the 
body  is  not  reckoned  as  death,  any  more  than 
the  life  of  the  body  is  life,  in  our  Lord's  dis- 
courses. See  ch.  11  :  25,  26." — {Alford.)  Christ 
puts  himself  in  contrast  with  the  devil,  whose 
slaves,  by  evil-doing,  the  Jews  have  become  (ver. 
34).  The  devil  is  a  murderer,  a  life-taker  (ver.  44) ; 
Christ  is  a  life-giver,  even  to  those  that  are  dead 
in  trespasses  and  sins  lEphes.  s :  1). 

52,  53.  The  Judeaus.  Not  the  believers 
of  ver.  30.  The  opponents  of  Christ  reply  to 
words  which  were  not  addressed  to  them. — 
Abraham  is  dead.  *  *  *  *  Art  thou 
greater  than  our  father  Abraham  ?  *  *  * 
Whom  makest  thou  thyself?  Their  argu- 
ment is,  as  Chrysostom  interprets  it:  "They 
who  have  heard  the  word  of  God  are  dead,  and 
shall  they  who  have  heard  thee  not  die "? "  Their 
perplexity  was  real,  for  the  unspiritual  never 
comprehend  either  spiritual  natures  or  spiritual 
teaching.  They  are  literalists,  and  understand 
Jesus  to  speak  of  natural  death.  They  are  dull 
and  will  not  comprehend  his  declaration  that  he 
is  the  Messiah  in  hope  of  whom  Abraham  and 
the  prophets  had  lived.  Compare  with  their 
question  here  that  of  the  Samaritan  woman  (ch. 
4  :  IS),  "Art  thou  greater  than  our  father  Ja- 
cob?" but  contrast  their  spirit  with  hers.  She 
is  in  doubt ;  they  are  scornful.  See  also  Christ's 
declaration  in  Matt.  12  :  42,  "Behold,  a  greater 
than  Solomon  is  here. ' ' 


Ch.  VIIL] 


JOHX. 


117 


53  Art  thou  greater  than  our  father  Abraham,  which 
is  dead  ?  and  the  f^rophels  are  dead  :  whom  makest 
thou  thyself? 

54  Jesus  answered,  If*  I  honour  myself,  my  honour 
is  nothing:  it  is  my  Father'  that  honoureth  me;  of 
whom  ye  say,  that  he  is  your  God  : 

55  Yet  ye  have  not  known  him  ;  but  I  know  him  : 
and  if  I  should  say.  I  know  him  not.  I  shall  be  a  liar 
like  unto  you :  but  I  know  him,  and  keep  his  saying. 


56  Your  father  Abraham  rejoiced  to  see  my  day : 
and  he"  saw  //,  and  was  glad. 

57  Then  said  the  Jews  unto  him.  Thou  art  not  yet 
fifty  years  old.  and  hast  thou  seen  Abraham  ? 

58  Jesus  said  unto  them.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
vou.  Before  Abraham  was,  I'  am. 

59  Then  took  they  up  stones  to  cast  at  him:  but 
Jesus  hid  himself,  and  went  out  of  the  t.-mple,  going 
through  the  midst  of  them,  and  so  passed  by. 


ich.  5;31,41....tch.  1;  :  1...  n  Gen.  44  :  IJ,  14  ;  Heb.  11  :ia....Tch.  1  :I,4;  Exod.  3  :  14  ;  ba.  43  :  13;  Col.  1  :  17     Ber.  1  :  8. 


34-56.  If  I  glorify  myself  my  glory  is 
nothing.  To  honor  or  glorify  (duiiali:))  is  to  at- 
tribute hoDor,  generally  by  words.  Christ's  reply 
to  the  question.  Whom  rnakeat  tJi/m  tfojudf?  is  that 
he  makes  nothing  of  himself;  he  leaves  others 
to  interpret  his  character  from  his  life  and  teach- 
ings. And  this  is  singularly  true;  Christ  is  to 
each  soul  what  its  spiritual  sight  is  able  to  dis- 
cern in  him.  He  does  not  declare  himself. — It  is 
my  Father  that  glorifieth  me.  He  leaves 
his  reputation  in  the  hands  of  his  Father,  an  ex- 
ample to  his  followers  when  belied  and  misrep- 
resented. See  on  ver.  1^.— Ye  have  never 
learned  him,  bat  I  know  him.  There  is  a 
double  contrast  in  the  two  verbs  (yivuiaxv)  and 
oldu),  the  one  signifying  acquired,  the  other 
direct  intuitive  knowledge ;  and  in  the  tenses, 
the  one  signifying  a  past  act,  never  have  knoion, 
the  other  a  perpetually  present  possession,  / 
always  know.  The  sense  may  be  expressed  :  Te 
Jiave  never  acquired  any  knowUdge  of  God,  hut  I 
am  always  in  fdJ.owship  with  him. — I  shoald  be 
a  liar  like  nnto  yon.  To  boast  of  one's  spir- 
itual experience  is  to  glorify  one's  self ;  such 
glory  is  nothing.  To  deny  it,  under  pretence  of 
humility,  is  to  become  a  liar.  There  may  be 
hypocrisy  in  disavowing  the  sense  of  God's  pres- 
ence and  love,  as  well  as  in  falsely  pretending  to 
it.  The  true  method  is  that  of  Christ,  who 
showed  it  by  his  life,  not  by  his  professions. — 
Your  father  Abraham  exalted  that  he 
might  see  my  day  (*.  e.,  that  it  was  promised 
to  him) ;  and  he  has  seen  it  and  was  glad. 
There  is  some  difficulty  in  the  interpretation  of 
this  passage,  to  which  I  have  given  a  literal 
translation.  Some  scholars  regard  it  as  wholly 
prophetical,  "Abraham  rejoiced  in  anticipation 
of  Christ's  advent;"  others  as  historical  but 
typical,  '•  He  rejoiced,  seeing  in  the  birth  of  Isaac 
a  type  of  the  advent  of  the  Messiah,"  and  they 
even  suppose  that  Christ  refers  to  Abraham's 
laughter  (Gen.  n  :  v) ;  still  others  interpret  it  as 
partly  prophetic  and  partly  historical,  "He  re- 
joiced in  anticipation  of  the  promised  advent ; 
he  has  since  seen  it  from  his  home  in  paradise, 
and  was  glad."  The  latter  view  seems  to  me 
best  to  accord  with  the  original  and  with  the 
context.  So  Godet,  Meyer,  ALford.  For  a  state- 
ment of  different  views,  see  Meyer.  The  decla- 
ration is  responsive  to  the  question,  Ajt  thou 


greater  than  our  father  Abraham  ?  The  answer 
is.  Your  father  Abraham  rejoiced  because  he  was 
promised  that  he  should  see  my  advent,  and  the 
realization  of  his  hope  has  given  him  new  joy  in 
the  heavenly  kingdom.  If  this  interpretation  be 
correct,  the  language  incidentally  confirms  the 
doctrine  that  the  saints  in  heaven  are  cognizant 
of  what  passes  upon  earth. 

57-59.  The  Jadeans  therefore  said  to 
him,  Thon  art  not  yet  fifty  years  old. 
No  indication  of  his  actual  age.  The  fifty  years 
was  specified  because  this  was  the  age  of  a  per- 
fected maturity,   according    to  Jewish   notions 

TXamb.  4  :  3.  29;    *l  :  24 — LisbtfootJ. — And    haSt    thon 

seen  Abraham  ?  He  did  not  say  that  he  had, 
but  that  Abraham  had  seen  him  They  pervert 
his  words,  partly  through  stupidity,  partly 
through  wilfulness. — Verily,  verily.  The  pre- 
cursor of  a  specially  solemn  declaration. — Be- 
fore Abraham  was  born,  Iam(>i/«ouai-£cu£). 
Two  Socinian  explanations  are  afforded  of  this 
passage  :  ^1)  Before  Abraham  was  bom  I  (Christ) 
existed  in  the  divine  counsels,  i.  e.,  I  was  pur- 
posed by  God  and  foretold  by  him  ;  2;  Before 
Abram  can  become  Abraham,  a  spiritual  father 
of  nations,  I  (Christ)  must  be  sent  forth  as  the 
Messiah.  They  both  seem  to  me  to  be  shifts 
devised  to  accommodate  Scripture  to  a  theo- 
logical preconception.  All  independent  Greek 
scholars  (Meyer,  Luthardt,  Alford,  Godet,  Tho- 
luck,  etc.)  agree  substantially  in  their  interpreta- 
tion of  the  language.  Its  meaning  is  made  clear 
by  a  consideration  of  the  original  Greek,  in  which 
the  contrast  is  strongly  marked  between  Abra- 
ham, who  began  to  be,  and  Christ,  who  eternally 
is  ;  by  the  context,  in  which  the  pre-eminence  of 
Christ  above  Abraham  is  clearly  implied  ;  by  the 
unexpressed  but  hardly  doubtful  reference  to 
the  appellation  given  by  the  O.  T.  to  Jehovah  as 

the  I  AM  ( Exod.  3:14;  comp.  Mitt.  14  :  47  ;  M»rk  6  :  50 ;  14  :  S4  , 

John  8 :  44, 45 1 ;  and  by  the  interpretation  which  was 
put  upon  Christ's  words  by  his  auditors,  who 
understood  them  as  a  claim  of  divinity,  and  took 
up  stones  to  stone  him  as  a  blasphemer.  Christ, 
then,  by  these  words,  as  I  understand  him,  iden- 
tifies himself,  as  the  N.  T.  manifestation  of  the 
unseen  God,  with  the  I  am  of  the  O.  T.,  the  One 
who  had  manifested  the  Invisible  to  Israel  in  all 
their  history. — Then  took  they  up  stones  to 
cast  at  him.     The  building  of  the  temple  was 


118 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  IX. 


A 


CHAPTER   IX. 

ND  as  Jesus  passed  by,  he  saw  a  man  which  was 
blind  from  his  birth. 


2  And  his  disciples  asked  him,  saying,  Master,  who 
did  sin,  this  man,  or  his  parents,  that  ne  was  born  blind  ? 

3  Jesus  answered,  Neither  hath  this  man  sinned,  nor 
his  parents:  but  that"  the  works  of  God  should  be 
made  manifest  in  him. 


«till  going  on,  and  stones  were  probably  lying 
about  in  the  temple  court.  Stoning  was  the 
O.  T.  punishment  for  blasphemy,  but  it  could 
not  be  lawfully  inflicted  without  trial  and  judg- 
ment.— Jesus  hid  himself.  There  is  no  good 
ground  to  suppose  any  miraculous  escape,  either 
here  or  in  Luke  4  :  30.  And  there  is  good  reason 
to  believe  that  there  was  not  a  miraculous  inter- 
position, for  Christ  never  availed  himself  of  any 
miracle  for  his  own  benefit.  See  Matt.  4  :  6, 
note.  The  clause  "going  through  the  midst  of 
them,  and  so  passed  by,"  is  wanting  in  the  best 
MSS.,  and  is  omitted  by  Alford,  Meyer,  Godet, 
Luthardt.  The  latter  traces  a  curious  analogy 
between  this  typical  expulsion  and  the  final  cru- 
cifixion of  Christ.  He  hides  himself  from  the 
eyes  of  those  whom  the  God  of  this  world  has 
blinded ;  he  leaves  the  Pharisees  apparent  vic- 
tors and  in  possession  of  the  field  ;  in  taking  up 
stones  to  stone  him  they  show  themselves  to  be 
murderers  at  heart,  as  they  afterward  became  in 
outward  act. 

In  this  discourse,  or  these  discourses,  for  it  is 
not  quite  clear  whether  it  is  one  or  more,  the 
connection  is  sometimes  obscure,  and  the  mean- 
ing accordingly  difllcult.  The  student  must  re- 
member (1)  that  Christ  addresses  a  very  difiEerent 
audience  from  that  in  Galilee.  There  he  spoke 
to  willing  but  ignorant  disciples ;  in  Jerusalem 
he  speaks  to  obstinate  and  perverse  enemies. 
(2)  Hence  the  difference  in  spirit.  In  GaUlee 
gentleness  is  predominant,  in  Jerusalem  sever- 
ity. (3)  The  continuity  of  the  discourse  is  af- 
fected by  the  sudden  transitions  of  feeling  in 
■Christ,  which  are  great,  as  in  all  natures  of  deep 
and  ready  sympathy.  He  speaks  now  with  great 
pathos,  as  in  the  question,  a  semi-soliloquy,  Why 
do  ye  not  understand  my  speech  ?  (ver.  43),  then 
with  indignation.  Ye  are  of  your  father  the  devU 
(ver.  44) ;  now  with  self-abnegation,  I  judge  no 
man  (ver.  15),  If  I  honor  myself  my  honor  is  noth- 
ing (ver.  54),  again  with  divine  self-assertion  and 
the  power  of  an  unconcealed  divinity,  I  am  from 
above  (ver.  23),  Before  Abraham  was  1  am  (ver.  ss). 
<4)  The  continuity  of  his  speech  is  constantly 
broken  in  upon  by  rude  interruptions  (verses  19,  22, 
39,  41,  48,  52, 53, 57),  and  by  changes  in  the  direction 
of  his  discourse,  which  is  sometimes  addressed 
to  his  disciples  (ver.  si),  and  sometimes  to  his  op- 
ponents (verses  42, 49,  etc.).  (5)  Nevertheless  we  may 
say  generally  that  the  discourse  embodies 
Christ's  teaching  respecting  himself,  and  era- 
braces  the  following  points :  He  is  (a)  the  light. 


i.  e.,  the  moral  and  spiritual  illuminator,  of  the 
world  (ver.  12) ;  (6)  superhuman  in  his  origin  (ver. 
23) ;  (c)  the  manifestation  of  the  Father,  because 
the  tabernacle  (ch.  i  :  u)  in  which  the  Father 
dwells  (ver.  29) ;  {d)  the  emancipator  of  all  those 
that  accept  and  obey  the  truth  as  manifested  by 
him  (verses  31-36) ;  («)  sinless  (ver.  46) ;  (/)  the  life- 
giver  (ver.  51) ;  {g)  the  great  I  am  (ver.  ss).  To  re- 
ceive the  benefit  of  the  light  which  he  confers, 
we  must  follow  his  example  (ver.  12) ;  to  receive 
the  benefit  of  the  freedom  he  brings,  we  must 
live  habitually  in  the  truth  which  he  teaches 
(verses  31, 32) ;  to  rcccive  the  life  which  he  bestows, 
we  must  be  bom  from  above  (ch.  3  : 3)  by  faith  in 
him  as  our  Messiah  (ver.  24). 


Ch.  9  : 1-41.  THE  HEALING  OF  THE  MAN  BOEN  BLIND. 
—A  MIRACLE  OP  Christ  attested  bt  a  jxtdicial  in- 
vestigation.— A  PARABLE  OF  REDEMPTION. — A  LESSON 

IN  FAITH.    See  note  at  ver.  38- 

Pkeliminart  Note. — This  miracle  is  reported 
only  by  John.  There  is  nothing  peculiar  in  this, 
since  John  alone  reports  Christ's  Judean  minis- 
try, in  which  it  occurred.  The  place  was  Jeru- 
salem ;  the  time  is  uncertain ;  it  was  on  a  Sabbath 
(ver.  14),  in  the  fall  of  A.  d.  29  (voi.  i,  p.  45),  between 
the  feast  of  Tabernacles  in  October  (ch.  1  -.  2)  and 
the  feast  of  Dedication  in  December  (ch.  10 :  22). 
Some  identify  it  with  the  last  day  of  the  former 
feast  (ch.  7 :  37),  which  was  a  Sabbath,  supposing 
ch.  7  :  53  to  8  :  11  to  be  an  interpolation.  It 
is  not  probable  that  it  occurred  at  the  time 
which  seems  to  be  indicated  by  its  place  in 
the  report  furnished  by  the  Evangelists.  That 
Christ  stopped  on  escaping  from  a  mob  who 
threatened  to  stone  him,  in  order  to  work  this 
miracle,  is  not  probable  ;  that  under  such  cir- 
cumstances his  disciples  should  have  asked  him 
the  abstruse  question  of  ver.  2  is  still  more  im- 
probable. I  put  it  therefore  at  some  other  time 
in  his  Judean  ministry,  which  lasted  a  little  over 
two  months.  See  ch.  7,  Prel.  Note.  In  studying 
this  chapter  the  student  will  do  well  to  observe 
its  natural  division  into  three  parts  :  (1)  the  mir- 
acle (verses  1-7) ;   (2)  the  investigation  (verses  8-33) ; 

(3)  the  result  (verses  34-38). 

1.  And  passing  by,  he  saw  a  man  blind 
from  birth.  To  the  ordinary  reader  the  con- 
nection of  this  verse  with  the  last  verse  of  the 
preceding  chapter  indicates  that  this  miracle 
was  wrought  as  Jesus  passed  from  the  temple 
driven  by  the  mob.  But  the  latter  clause  of 
that  verse  is  of   doubtful   authenticity.     The 


Ch.  IX.] 


JOHN. 


119 


4  I  must  work  the  works  of  him  that  sent  me,  while 
it  is  day  :  the  night  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work. 

5  As'long  as  I  am  in  the  world,  I  "  am  the  light  of  the 
world. 


6  When  he  had  thus  spoken,  he"  spat  on  the  ground, 
and  made  clay  of  tlie  spittle,  and  he  anointed  the  eyes 
of  the  blind  man  with  the  clay, 

7  And  said  uato  him,  Go,  wash  in  the  pool  of  Si- 


X  chaps.  1  :  5,  9 ;  8:12;  12  :  33,  46 y  Mark  8  :  23. 


phrase  "passing  by"  appears  to  be  used  here 
simply  to  indicate  that  the  miracle  of  mercy  was 
called  forth  by  the  occasion,  not  by  the  blind 
man's  petition  nor  by  any  previously  formed 
purpose.  "  It  was  he  who  saw  the  blind  man, 
not  the  blind  man  who  came  to  him  ;  and  so  ear- 
nestly did  he  look  upon  him  that  even  his  disci- 
ples perceived  it." — {Chrysostom.)  Compare  this 
case  with  that  in  Luke  18  :  35-43.  There  the 
blind  man  appeals  to  Christ,  here  Christ  heals 
without  being  appealed  to.  There,  in  the  still- 
ness of  the  country,  the  noise  of  the  multitude 
awakens  the  attention  of  the  blind  man.  Here, 
in  the  crowded  city,  there  is  nothing  to  announce 
to  the  blind  man  a  healer  until  Christ  speaks  to 
him.  There,  therefore,  he  awaits  the  petition ; 
here  he  does  not.  Congenital  blindness  is  incur- 
able by  modern  science.  How  it  was  known  to 
the  Evangelist  that  this  man  was  blind  from  his 
birth  has  been  questioned.  The  man  appears, 
from  the  following  narrative,  to  have  been  a 
well-known  mendicant.  Perhaps  he  proclaimed 
the  nature  and  extent  of  his  misfortune  as  a 
means  of  awakening  charity. 

2.  Who  did  sin  ?  It  was  not  only  a  Jewish 
opinion  that  such  afflictions  were  a  divine  pun- 
ishment for  sin,  it  is  the  teaching  of  experience 
that  special  diseases  are  frequently  the  natural 
consequence  of  sin  either  in  the  sufferer  or  in  his 
ancestry,  and  the  teaching  of  Scripture  that  all 
disease,  and  even  death  itself,  is  the  fruit  of  sin. 
This  truth  Christ  had  already  recognized  in  at 
least  two  instances  (Mark  2:5;  John  6 ;  u),  and  it  is 
enforced  both  by  warnings  and    by  historical 

illustrations  in  the  O.  T.  (Lev.  26  :  le ;  Deut.  28  :  22 ; 
Numb.  12  :  10  ;    2  Kings  5  :  2?).      The   Jcwish  CrrOr   COU- 

sisted  in  believing  that  aU  special  afflictions  were 
divine  visitations  for  special  sins  (Job  4 :  ? ;  8 : 6),  an 
opinion  which  was  not  confined  to  the  Jews  (Acts 
28  :  4).  This  error  Christ  here  corrects.  The 
form  of  the  disciples'  question  has  given  rise  to 
some  needless  perplexity.  How  could  they,  even 
in  imagination,  attribute  a  blindness  from  birth 
to  the  blind  man's  own  sin  ?  All  such  explana- 
tions as  that  some  among  the  Jews  believed  in 
the  transmigration  of  souls  and  others  in  a  pre- 
existent  state,  and  therefore  in  sins  committed 
in  a  previous  life,  and  stfll  others  in  the  possibil- 
ity of  sin  committed  by  the  unborn  babe  in  the 
womb,  a  doctrine  deduced  by  the  rabbis  from 
such  passages  as  Gen.  25  ;  22  and  Psalm  51  :  5, 
are  inadmissible,  because  these  refinements  in 
theology,  even  if  actually  entertained  among  the 
Jewish  rabbis,  certainly  were  not  accepted  among 


the  common  people,  from  whom  Christ  drew  his 
disciples.  The  question  appears  to  be  in  spirit 
this :  What  is  the  explanation  of  this  man's 
blindness  ?  his  own  sin  ?  That  cannot  be,  for  he 
was  born  blind.  Is  he  then  punished  for  his 
parents'  sinV 

3.  Neither  hath  this  man  sinned,  nor 
his  parents.  That  is,  his  blindness  is  not  a 
punishment  for  his  or  their  sin. — But  that  the 
works  of  God  should  be  made  manifest  in 
him.  Manifest  to  us  by  his  miraculous  cure; 
but  this  is  not  all.  The  work  of  God  is  to  be- 
lieve on  him  whom  he  hath  sent  (ch.  6 :  29 ),  and  to 
this  belief  the  blind  man  vms  brought  by  his 
cure  (ver.  38).  Thus  the  work  of  God  was  made 
manifest,  not  only  through  him  to  us,  but  in 
him.  Thus  Christ  gives  the  key  to  the  Chris- 
tian doctrine  of  suffering.  It  is  inflicted  some- 
times as  a  special  punishment  for  special  sins  (see 
references  above),  but  morc  frequently  it  is  a  means 
of  grace,  inflicted  either  that  by  our  endurance 
we  may  manifest  the  grace  of  God  to  others 
(2  Cor.  12 : 9),  or  may  be  taught  of  God  ourselves 
(Heb.  12 : 6,  ii).  Compare  with  Christ's  language 
here  his  declaration  concerning  the  sickness  and 
death  of  Lazarus  (ch.  ii  :  4). 

4,5.  While  it  is  day ;  the  night  cometh. 
The  day  is  life ;  the  night  is  death.  Christ  in 
his  human  estate  was  subject  to  the  law  under 
which  all  his  disciples  are  placed.  Death  cut 
short  his  human  work.  The  day  for  work  is 
short,  the  night  is  at  hand  ;  therefore  the  greater 
need  of  earnest  and  urgent  labor.  Sleep  is  a 
parable  of  death  (Ps.  104  :  23)  that  should  perpet- 
ually remind  us  that  our  day  is  short. — The 
light  of  the  world.  It  was  prophesied  that 
the  Messiah  should  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind 
(isa.  29 :  18 ;  35 : 5 ;  42  :  ?).  The  direct  reference  is  to 
Christ's  fulfilment  of  these  prophecies  (Luke  4  :  is, 
21).  But  it  is  true,  in  a  larger  sense,  that  just  so 
far  as  Christ  is  in  the  world,  and  accepted  by  the 
world,  he  becomes  its  light,  intellectual,  moral, 
and  spiritual  (ch.  1 : 9,  note). 

6,  7.  Spat  on  the  ground  *  *  *  *  and 
he  anointed  the  eyes  Avith  the  clay.  Clay 
and  spittle  were  both  believed  in  ancient  times 
to  possess  curative  properties.  Why  Christ  used 
them  here  is  a  matter  only  of  conjecture.  Cer- 
tainly not  as  remedies,  for  one  blind  from  birth 
could  not  be  cured  by  a  remedy  so  simple,  and 
he  who  healed  the  blind  men  at  Jericho  by  a 
touch  (Matt.  20  :  34)  had  no  need  here  to  resort  to 
other  means.  Not  to  conceal  the  miracle,  as 
may  have  been  the  case  in  analogous  instances 


120 


JOHN. 


loain,^  (which  is  by  interpretation,  Sent.)    He  °  went 
his  way  therefore,  and  washed,  and  came  seeing. 

8  The  neighbours  thereforej  and  they  which  before 
had  seen  him  that  he  was  bhnd,  said,  Is  not  this  he 
that  sat  and  begged  ? 


[Ch.  IX. 


9  Some  said.  This  is  he  :  others  said.  He  is  like  him  : 
6ut  he  said,  I  am  he. 

10  Therefore  said  they  unto  him,  How  were  thine 
eyes  opened  ? 

11  He  answered  and  said,  A  man  that  is  called  Jesus 


z  Neh.  3  :  15  ....  a  2  Kings  5  :  14. 


(see  Mark  7  :  33  ;  8  :  23,  notes),  for  here  hiS  Object  WaS  tO 

manifest  the  works  of  God,  and  the  result  was  a 
public  and  protracted  investigation  of  his  own 
character.  It  is  noticeable,  however,  that  Christ 
never  cured  without  giving  the  healed  some- 
thing to  do,  as  a  test  of  his  faith  and  obedience. 
Even  in  the  three  cases  of  raising  from  the  dead 
he  called  on  the  mourners,  to  indicate  by  their 
obedience  to  his  direction  their  faith    in    him 

(Matt.  9  :  S4,  25  ;  Luke  7:14;  John  11  :  39,  40).      When  he  WaS 

asked  to  heal,  the  simple  request  served  as  an 
indication  of  faith ;  when,  as  here,  he  volun- 
teered the  cure,  he  seems  always  to  have  re- 
quired some  act  as  an  evidence  of  faith.  Comp. 
ch.  5 : 6-8. — Go,  wash  in  the  pool  of  Siloam. 
One  of  the  pools  in  the  vicinity  of  Jerusalem, 
entitled  also  SUoah  or  Shiloah  (Neh.  3 :  is ;  isa.  8 .-  e). 
It  is  identified  with  a  pool  or  tank  .still  found  in  the 
vicinity  of  Jerusalem,  which  stands  to  the  south 
of  the  Temple  mount,  and  consists  of  an  oblong 
tank,  partly  hewn  out  of  the  rock  and  partly 
built  of  masonry,  measuring  about  fifty-three 
feet  in  length,  eighteen  feet  in  width,  and  nine- 
teen feet  in  depth,  with  a  flight  of  steps  leading 
down  to  the  bottom.  Several  columns  stand  out 
of  the  side  walls,  extending  from  the  top  down- 
ward into  the  reservoir,  the  design  of  which  it  is 
now  difficult  to  conjecture.  The  water  passes 
out  of  this  reservoir  through  an  open  channel  cut 
in  the  rock,  which  is  covered  for  a  short  dis- 
tance, and  a  few  yards  off  is  partly  dammed  up 
by  the  people  of  the  adjoining  village  of  SUoam, 
for  the  purpose  of  washing  their  clothes,  and 
then  divided  into  small  streams  to  irrigate  the 
gardens  below.  The  water  flows  into  this  reser- 
voir from  an  artificial  cave  or  basin  under  the 
cliff.  This  cave  is  entered  by  a  small  archway 
hewn  in  the  rock.  It  is  irregular  in  form,  and 
decreases  in  size  as  it  proceeds  from  about  fif- 
teen to  three  feet  in  height.  It  is  connected 
with  what  is  known  as  the  Fountain  of  the  Vir- 
gin by  a  remarkable  conduit  cut  through  the 
very  heart  of  the  rock  in  a  zigzag  form,  measur- 
ing some  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  while 
the  distance  in  a  straight  line  is  only  eleven  hun- 
dred feet.  This  remarkable  fact  was  discovered 
by  Dr.  Edward  Robinson,  who  had  the  hardihood 
to  crawl  through  the  passage. — Which  is  by 
interpretation  Sent.  The  meaning  of  this 
addition  has  been  doubted,  but  does  not  seem  to 
me  to  be  doubtful.  The  pool,  by  its  ver}'  name, 
was  a  symbol  of  Him  who  was  sent  into  the 
world  to  work  the  works  of  God  (ver.  4),  and  who 


gives  light  to  the  world  by  providing  a  fountain 
in  which  not  only  all  uncleanness  is  washed 
away,  but  all  ignorance  and  blindness  of  heart. — 
He  went  therefore,  etc.  Compare  with  the 
cure  of  Naaman  (2  Kings  6 :  11,  13),  who  was  in  like 
manner  bid  to  wash  in  Jordan,  and  only  reluc- 
tantly and  after  angry  resistance  consented. 
Observe  how  great  the  trial  to  this  blind  man's 
faith,  directed  to  take  so  considerable  a  walk,  in 
his  blindness,  as  a  condition  of  cure.  Observe, 
too,  in  the  miracle  a  parable  of  redemption.  The 
whole  world  lieth  in  darkness  from  the  begin- 
ning (Ps.  107  :  10  ;   Matt.  4  :  16  ;   1  John  5  :  19)  ;   Chrfst,  the 

light  of  the  world,  comes  to  call  us  out  of  dark- 
ness into  marvellous  light  (Acts  26  :  is  ;  2  Cor.  4:6;  Col. 

1  :  13 ;  1  Pet.  2:9);  the  conditiou  of  receiving  that 
light  is  faith,  exemplified  by  obedience,  without 
which  the  soul  remains  in  darkness  (chaps,  i  :  s; 
3 :  19) ;  and  he  often  calls  us  to  prove  our  faith 
by  walking,  in  obedience  to  his  direction,  in  the 
darkness  for  a  while,  in  order  that  we  may  come 

into  the  light  (Mark  8  :  22-26,  notes). 

8,  9.  The  neighbors  therefore,  and  they 
Avhich  before  had  seen  him  that  he  ^vas  a 
beggar.  The  best  manuscripts  have  beggar, 
not,  as  in  our  English  version,  hlind.  So  Alford 
and  Tischendorf. — Is  not  this  he  that  sat  and 
begged  ?  Apparently  he  was  a  well-known 
beggar,  like  the  one  described  in  Acts  3  :  2,  10. 
Comp.  Luke  18  :  35.  He  is  described  as  one  that 
sat  and  begged,  in  contrast  with  such  as  beg  from 
door  to  door.  Beggars  of  this  description  hav- 
ing a  regular  place,  where  they  may  always  be 
found  soliciting  alms,  are  a  not  uncommon  sight  in 
the  East.— Some  said.  This  is  he.  Others, 
No  !  but  he  is  like  him.  He  himself  said, 
I  am  he.  This  is  the  correct  rendering  of  the 
best  reading ;  it  varies  slightly  from  our  English 
version.  His  own  response  seems  to  have  settled 
the  question  of  his  identity  among  the  common 
people.  That  some  should  have  at  first  doubted 
is  not  strange,  considering  the  alterations  in  ap- 
pearance made  by  the  clear  eye  in  place  of  the 
sightless  eyeballs,  and  the  fact  that  he  was  no 
longer  to  be  found  in  his  accustomed  place, 
begging. 

10-12.  The  first  investigation  is  made  infor- 
mally, and  without  prejudice,  by  the  common 
people.  It  is  curiosity  alone  which  inquires,  and 
it  is  easily  convinced  of  the  facts  in  the  case. 
The  man's  reply  to  his  questioners  is  more  la- 
conic in  the  original  than  in  our  English  version. 
It  is  literally,  "^ntZ  going  and  washing,  I  saw." 


Ch.  IX.] 


JOHN. 


131 


made  clay,"'  and  anointed  mine  eyes,  and  said  unto  me. 
Go  to  the  pool  ot  Siloain,  and  wash  ;  and  I  went  and 
washed,  and  I  received  sight. 

12  Then  said  they  unto  him,  Where  is  he  ?  He  said, 
I  know  not. 

13  They  brought  to  the  Pharisees  him  that  aforetime 
was  blind. 

14  And  it  was  the  sabbath  day  when  Jesus  made 
the  clay,  and  opened  his  eyes. 

15  Then  again  the  Pharisees  also  asked  him  how  he 
had  received  his  sight.  He  said  unto  them.  He  put 
clay  upon  mine  eyes,  and  I  washed,  and  do  see. 

16  Therefore  said  some  of  the  Pharisees,  This  man  is 
not  of  God,  because  he  keepeth  not  the  sabbath  day. 
Others  said.  How "  can  a  man  that  is  a  sinner  do  such 
miracles  ?    And  >•  there  was  a  division  among  them. 

17  They  say  unto  the  blind  man  again.  What  sayest 


thou  of  him,  that  he  hath  opened  thine  eyes?    He  said, 
He  is  a  prophet."^ 

18  But  the  Jews  did  not  believe  ^  concerning  him, 
that  he  had  been  blind,  and  received  his  sight,  until 
they  called  the  parents  of  him  that  had  received  his 
sight. 

19  And  they  asked  them,  saying,  Is  this  your  son, 
who  ye  say  was  born  blind  ?  how  then  doth  he  now 
see  ? 

20  His  parents  answered  them  and  said.  We  know 
that  this  is  our  son,  and  that  he  was  born  blind : 

21  But  by  what  means  he  now  seeth,  we  know  not ; 
or  who  hath  opened  his  eyes,  we  know  not:  he  is  of 
age  ;  ask  him  :  he  shall  speak  for  himself. 

22  These  words  spake  his  parents,  because  they  k 
feared  the  Jews  :  for  the  Jews  had  agreed  already,  that 
if  any  man  did  confess  that  he  was  Christ,  he"  should 
be  put  out  of  the  synagogue. 


b  verses  6,  7 c  verse  31  ;   ch.  3  :  2 d  ch.  7  :  12,  43 e  ch.  4  :  19 f  Isa.  26;  11. 

h  verse  34  ;  ch.  16  :  2. 


IS.  7  :  13;    12  :  42;   Prov.  29  :  25. 


It  reminds  one  of  Caesar's  famous  report,  "I 
came,  I  saw,  I  conquered."  The  verb  rendered 
I  saw  or  I  received  sight  {dva^ii.inM)  is  literally, 
/  saw  again.  Sight  being  the  prerogative  of  hu- 
manity, he  speaks  as  though  it  were  really  once 
his  prerogative  (though  in  fact  he  never  pos- 
sessed it),  had  been  lost,  and  was  now  recovered 
to  him  again.  The  question.  Where  is  he?  ap- 
pears to  be  asked,  not  in  a  spirit  of  enmity,  but 
simply  from  a  natural  curiosity  and  interest  to 
see  him  who  had  wrought  the  cure.  Christ's 
escape  from  the  blind  man  and  the  multitude  is 
analogous  to  his  course  on  other  occasions  (comp. 
ch.  5 :  13),  and  is  characteristic  of  one  who  ordina- 
rily avoided  all  occasions  of  public  triumph  and 

enthusiasm  (ch.  6  -.  is  ;  Matt.  8:4;  9  :  30  ;  Mark  5  :  43). 

13.  Verses  13-3i  report  a  semi-official  investi- 
gation by  the  Pharisees,  instigated  not  by  a  sin- 
cere desire  to  ascertain  the  truth,  nor  by  mere 
curiosity,  but  by  a  determination  to  break  the 
force  of  the  miracle  that  had  been  wrought.  For 
this  purpose  they  first  examine  the  man  (verses 
15-17)  and  his  parents  (18-21),  in  hope  to  prove  an 
imposture  ;  next  they  subject  the  man  to  a  fur- 
ther cross-examination  in  an  unsuccessful  en- 
deavor to  break  down  his  testimony  (verses  24-53) ; 
failing  in  that,  they  do  what  they  can  to  discredit 
his  testimony  by  excommunicating  him  (ver.  34). — 
The  Pharisees.  It  is  generally  supposed  that 
this  phrase  indicates  the  Jewish  court  formally 
assembled,  either  the  Sanhedrim,  i.  e.,  the  su- 
preme court  of  the  nation,  or  the  lesser  Sanhe- 
drim, i.  e.,  one  of  the  local  courts  in  Jerusalem. 
But  the  passages  cited  to  show  that  John  uses 
the  term  "Pharisees"  to  designate  a  court 
rather  indicate  the  opposite.  In  both  John  7  :  33, 
45-47  and  John  11  :  46,  47,  he  distinguishes  be- 
tween the  "  chief-priests  and  Pharisees "  who 
constituted  the  council,  and  the  Pharisees  who 
constituted  not  a  body,  but  a  party.  I  judge 
then  that  the  investigation  which  follows  is  an 
informal  one.  It  must  be  remembered  that  in 
that  age,  and  even  to  the  present  time  in  that 


country,  no  such  clear  line  was  drawn  as  with  us 
between  an  official  and  an  unofficial  trial. 

14- IG.  The  Sabbath  day.  For  analogous 
case  of  Sabbath  healing,  see  ch.  5,  notes. — Then 
again  the  Pharisees  also  asked  him.  Not 
that  they  had  asked  him  before;  the  "again" 
refers  to  the  question  by  the  people  in  ver,  10. — 
Some  said  *  *  *  *  Others  said.  It  is  a 
mistake  to  suppose  that  all  the  Pharisees  were 
hypocrites.  Among  them  were  such  men  as 
Nicodemus,  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  Gamaliel,  Saul 
of  Tarsus.  See  Matt.  3  :  7,  note.  But  the  honest 
Pharisees  were  timid,  and  were  easily  overborne 
by  their  opponents.  For  account  of  a  similar 
conflict,  see  ch.  7  :  47-52.  Observe  the  inherent 
vice  of  Pharisaism,  ancient  and  modern  ;  it  puts 
the  ceremonial  above  humanity ;  it  is  of  the 
essence  of  Christianity  that  it  regards  all  cere- 
monials and  observances  as  for  humanity  (Mark 

2  :  27  ;  note  on  Matt.  12  ;  s). 

17-21.  What  sayest  thou  of  him  because 
he  hath  opened  thine  eyes  ?  They  ask  for  the 
man's  opinion,  each  party  perhaps  hoping  to  get 
support  for  its  own  views. — He  is  a  prophet. 

At  first  to  the  blind  man  Christ  was  only  "  a  man 
that  is  called  Jesus  "  (ver.  ii).  The  discussion  has 
not  only  deepened,  it  has  clarified  his  convic- 
tions.— But  the  Jews  did  not  believe  *  * 
*  *  until  they  had  called  the  parents. 
The  Pharisees  make  a  twofold  endeavor  to  break 
the  force  of  the  miracle,  first  by  questioning  the 
identity  of  the  man,  second  by  questioning  the 
method  of  his  cure.  So  they  ask  the  parents  if 
this  is  their  son,  and  how  he  was  cured. — His 
parents  answered  them,  etc.  The  answer  of 
the  parents  was  probably  literally  true,  but  it 
was  evasive.  Their  knowledge  of  the  cure  was 
probably  derived  from  their  son ;  hence  they  jus- 
tify themselves  in  referring  the  inquirers  to  him. 
But  duty,  both  to  truth  and  to  their  son,  required 
that  they  should  have  sustained  his  testimony  by 
their  own  expressed  belief  in  the  miraculous  cure. 
33,  23.  Because  they  feared  the  Jews. 


122 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  IX. 


23  Therefore  said  his  parents,  He  is  of  age  ;  ask  him. 

24  Then  again  called  they  the  man  that  was  blind, 
and  said  unto  him.  Give  God'  the  praise:  we  know 
that  this  man  is  a  sinner. 

25  He  answered  and  said.  Whether  he  be  a  sinner  or 
no,  I  know  not ;  one  thing  I  know,  that,  whereas  I  was 
blind,  now  I  see. 


26  Then  said  thev  to  him  again,  What  did  he  to 
thee  ?  how  opened  he  thine  eyes  ? 

27  He  answered  them,  1  have  told  you  already,  and 
ye  did  not  hear :  wherefore  would  ye  hear  //  again  ? 
will  ye  also  be  his  disciples  ? 

28  Then  they  reviled  J  him,  and  said,  Thou  art  his 
disciple  ;  but  we  are  Moses'  disciples. 


Josh.  7  :  19 ;  Pa.  50  :  14, 15 j  1  Pet.  2  :  23. 


The  term  "Jews,"  as  John  uses  it,  generally 
means  the  Judeans,  i.  e.,  the  inhabitants  of  Judea, 
as  distinguished  from  the  Galileans  or  other  dis- 
persed Israelites.  Living  ia  the  vicinity  of  Jeru- 
salem, they  were  most  attached  to  its  ritual,  and 
most  intolerant  of  any  departure  from  Jewish 
ceremonials  or  any  fellowship  with  the  Gentiles. 
Through  their  influence  the  Sanhedrim  had  re- 
solved that  any  one  who  acknowledged  Jesus  as 
the  Messiah  should  be  excommunicated.  When 
this  resolution  was  arrived  at  does  not  appear. 
It  clearly  indicates  that  even  in  Judea  there  was 
growing  a  feeUng,  if  not  a  faith,  that  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  was  the  Promised  One. — He  should 
be  put  out  of  the  synagogue.  That  is, 
excommunicated.  According  to  the  Jewish 
scholars,  there  were  three  kinds  of  discipline 
known  in  the  ancient  synagogues,  all  of  which  are 
entitled  excommunication  or  cutting  off.  Excom- 
munication in  the  slightest  degree  involved  sepa- 
ration from  the  synagogue,  and  the  suspension 
of  intercourse  with  all  Jews  whatever,  even  with 
one's  wife  and  domestics.  A  person  who  had 
exposed  himself  to  excommunication  was  not 
allowed  to  approach  another  nearer  than  a  dis- 
tance of  four  cubits.  This  separation  was  con- 
tinued for  thirty  days ;  and  in  case  the  excommu- 
nicated person  did  not  repent,  the  time  might  be 
doubled  or  tripled,  even  when  the  transgression, 
by  means  of  which  it  was  incurred,  was  of  small 
consequence.  The  second  degree  of  excommu- 
nication is  denominated  the  curse,  and  was  more 
severe  in  its  eflEects.  It  was  pronounced  with 
imprecations,  in  the  presence  of  ten  men,  and  so 
thoroughly  excluded  the  guilty  person  from  all 
communion  whatever  with  his  countrymen,  that 
they  were  not  allowed  to  sell  him  anything,  even 
the  necessaries  of  life.  The  third  degree  ofexcom- 
m,unication  was  more  severe  in  its  consequences 
than  either  of  the  preceding.  It  was  a  solemn 
and  absolute  exclusion  from  all  intercourse  and 
communion  with  any  other  individuals  of  the 
nation  ;  and  the  criminal  was  left  in  the  hands, 
and  to  the  justice  of  God.  It  is  probable  that  in 
the  time  of  Christ  the  second  degree  of  excom- 
munication was  not  distinguished  from  the  third. 
It  is  uncertain  what  degree  of  excommunica- 
tion was  here  threatened ;  but  it  is  quite  unim- 
portant, since  the  first  was  sure  to  be  succeeded 
by  the  others,  unless  the  condemned  repented, 
and    made   confession  of  his   wrong-doing;    in 


this  case  retracted  his  confession  of  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah. 

24,  35.  The  Pharisees  attempt  to  overawe  the 
blind  man.  The  conference  with  his  parents  has 
been  held  in  his  absence.  They  then  summon 
him  into  their  presence  with  the  declaration  that 
they  have  discovered  the  imposture,  and  call  on 
him  to  confess  it. — Give  God  the  praise  is 
not  equivalent  to  Give  to  God  the  glory  of  your 
cure ;  they  do  not  admit  that  any  cure  has  been 
wrought.  It  is  a  solemn  form  of  adjuration  to 
confess  the  fraud  which  they  pretend  to  have 
discovered  (josh.  1  -.  19). — We  knoAV  that  this 
man  is  a  sinner,  indicates  that  their  inves- 
tigation has  discovered  the  imposture.  The 
man's  reply  is  shrewd  and  wise.  He  will  not 
undertake  to  dispute  the  conclusion  which  these 
doctors  of  the  law  pretend  to  have  reached  ;  but 
neither  wUl  he  abate  in  the  slightest  his  testi- 
mony to  the  miraculous  cure. — One  thing  I 
know,  that  being  blind,  now  I  see.  No 
testimony  to  Christ  is  more  pertinent  or  potent 
than  this  personal  experience  of  his  grace.  Comp. 
Gal.  1  :  33  ;  1  Tim.  1  :   12-18. 

36,  27.  Defeated  in  an  attempt  to  overawe 
the  blind  man,  the  Pharisees  resort  to  the  com- 
mon artifice  of  cross-examination ;  they  call  on 
him  to  repeat  his  story,  in  the  hope  of  detecting 
some  real  or  imaginary  discrepancy  in  his  two 
accounts,  by  which  they  may  discredit  him.  He 
refuses  to  be  cross-examined ;  grows  impatient 
at  their  manifest  injustice ;  answers  defiantly. — 
Ye  will  not  hear.  Equivalent  to,  Te  will  not 
heed,  will  not  accept.  It  is  useless  to  repeat 
testimony  which  they  have  resolved  to  reject. 
He  thus  illustrates  Christ's  precept,  Neither  cast 
ye  your  pearls  before  swine  (Matt.  7 :  e). — Will 
ye  also  be  his  disciples  ?  Ironical.  The 
man  affects  to  misunderstand  their  object,  and 
to  think  that  they  are  inquiring  for  the  pur- 
pose of  becoming  Christ's  disciples.  The  mere 
suggestion  elicits  an  indignant  disclaimer,  and  so 
brings  out  clearly  that  they  are  not  honestly^ 
seeking  to  get  at  the  truth  respecting  Jesus,  but 
are  attempting  to  discredit  him.  The  word  also 
scarcely  indicates,  as  some  suppose,  that  the 
man  is  resolved  to  become  Christ's  disciple.  We 
know  too  little  concerning  him,  as  yet,  to  come 
to  that  conclusion  (ver.  se). 

28,  29.  A  curious  illustration  of  the  mcon- 
sistency  of  bigotry  is  afforded  by  a  comparison 


Ch.  IX.] 


JOHN. 


123 


29  We  know''  that  God  spake  unto  Moses:  as  /or 
tiusfeUo7o,  we '  know  not  from  whence  he  is. 

30  The  man  answered  and  said  unto  them,  Why"" 
herein  is  a  marvellous  thing,  that  ye  know  not  from 
whence  he  is,  and_j'£'/  he  hath  opened  "  mine  eyes. 

31  Now  we  know  that  God"  heareth  not  sinners: 
but  ifp  any  man  be  a  worshipper  of  God,  and  doeth  his 
will,  him  he  heareth. 

32  Since  the  world  began  was  it  not  heard  that  any 
man  opened  the  eyes  of  one  that  was  bom  blind. 

33  If  this  man  were  not  of  God,  he  could  do  nothing. 


34  They  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Thoui  wast 
altogether  born  in  sins,  and  dost  thou  teach  us  ?  And 
they  cast  him '  out. 

35  Jesus  heard  that  they  had  cast  him  out  ;  and  when 
he  had  found  him,  he  said  unto  him.  Dost  thou  believe" 
on  the  Son  of  Goa  ? 

36  He  answered  and  said,  Who  is  he,  Lord,  that  I 
might  believe  on  him  ? 

37  And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thou  hast  both  seen 
him,  and '  it  is  he  that  talketh  with  thee. 


k  Ps.  103  :  7  ;    Heb 

.S 

.■i.. 

.1  ch 

S: 

14. 

..m  ch.  3 

:10 

...n  Ps. 

119:18; 

Is« 

29 

18 

19 

35 

:.•> 

2  Cor 

4 

fi 

.0  Job  27  :  9  ; 

Ps.  66 

:  18: 

ProT.  28  :  9  ;    Is 

». 

:  15 

;  .ler. 

11 

11 

Ezek.  8: 

18; 

Micah  3 

:4;   Zech 

7  : 

13. 

••I 

Ps 

34: 

15; 

ProT. 

IS 

?», 

66 -K 

3  1  John  5  : 

13. 

...t 

ch.  4 

•26 

of  the  language  of  the  Pharisees  here  and  in 
ch.  7  :  27.  There,  because  they  suppose  they 
know  the  parentage  of  Jesus,  they  say  he  cannot 
be  the  Messiah  ;  here,  the  pretence  that  he  is  an 
unknown,  affords  an  equally  satisfactory  reason 
for  rejecting  him. 

30,  31.  The  argument  of  these  verses  is, 
(1)  founded  on  the  Pharisees'  doctrine  that  man 
is  made  acceptable  to  God  by  his  good  works. 
The  Pharisees  could  furnish  no  reply  to  it,  be- 
cause they  believed  that  God  only  heard  the 

prayers    of    the    pious    (see   Neh.  13   :    U,  22,  31  j     2  Sam. 

22 :  21).  The  doctrine  that  he  hears  and  answers 
the  prayers  of  the  penitent,  though  abundantly 

taught    in   the  O.   T.    (Ps.  25  :  11 ;   32  :  5  ;    Isaiah  65  :  6,  ?), 

they  wholly  ignored;  (3)  It  is  founded  on  the 
Scriptural  doctrine  that  God  does  not  hear 
the  prayer  of  deliberate,  willful  and  persistent 
sinners,  while  continuing  in  their  sins.  If  this 
"man  that  is>  called  Jesus"  was  the  impostor 
that  the  Pharisees  declared  him  to  be,  God  would 
not  accompany  his  ministry  with  such  manifes- 
tations of  divine  blessing   (isaiah  i  :  11-15 ;  59 :  1,  2; 

Prov.  15  :  8,  29  ;   21  :  27  ;    28  :  9  ;   Jer.  14  :  11,  12 ;  Amos  5  :  21-23  ; 

Micah  3:4);  (3)  It  accords  in  fact  with  the  N.  T. 
doctrine  of  prayer,  which  teaches  us  to  pray  in 
the  name  and  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ,  in 
and  through  whom  we  are  heard,  though  sinners 

(chaps.  14    :    13,  14 ;    15   :    16 ;    16   :    23,  24).       Observe    the 

double  condition  of  prayer,  as  indicated  by  this 
man :  (1)  a  true  reverence  of  God,  (2)  a  sincere 
practical  obedience  to  his  wUl.  Comp.  ch.  15  :  17 ; 
Heb.  11  :  6  ;  James  5  :  16.  In  the  failing  of  one 
or  the  other  of  these  conditions  we  may  find  one 
principal  reason  why  so  many  prayers  are  not 
answered. 

32,  33.  It  was  prophesied  of  the  Messiah  that 
he  should  restore  Wght  to  the  blind  (ver.  5,  note). 
This  peculiar  form  of  miraculous  cure  is  not  nar- 
rated to  have  been  performed  by  any  one  except 
Christ,  unless  2  Kings  6  :  18,  20  be  regarded  as 
an  instance ;    it  was   performed   by  Christ  on 

several  occasions  (Matt.  9  :  27-30  ;  11  :  5  ;  12  :  22  ;  20  :  30-34  ; 

Mark  8 :  22-25) ;  but  this  IS  the  only  case  of  the  cure 
of  one  blind  from  birth.— If  this  man  was  not 
from  God  he  could  do  nothing.  The  man 
now  openly  confesses  his  conviction,  which  in  his 


previous  answer  he  has  concealed.  Observe  that 
he  enunciated  the  same  principle  as  Nicodemus, 
and  in  almost  the  same  words.  The  declaration  is 
spiritually  true  of  Christ  (ch.  5 :  19-30)  and  of  every 

one  of  Christ's  disciples  (ch.  15  :  5  ;  comp.  Phil.  4  :  13). 

34.  Failing  in  their  attempt  to  break  the  force 
of  the  man's  testimony,  the  Pharisees  endeav- 
ored to  discredit  it  by  excommunicating  him. 
Religious  persecution  is  generally  the  last  resort 
of  intellectual  weakness  and  defeat.  Their  dec- 
laration Thou  wast  altogether  bom  in  sins  is  a 
reference  to  the  fact  that  he  was  born  blind. 
Thus  they  become  themselves  unconscious  wit- 
nesses to  the  miracle  ;  for  their  language  here 
shows  their  belief  that  he  was  bom  blind,  and 
the  man  himself  affords  ocular  demonstration 
of  the  cure.  The  declaration  Theij  cast  him  out 
means,  not  they  drove  him  out  of  the  court-room, 
as  interpreted  by  Chrysostom,  Tholuek  and 
others,  but  they  excommunicated  him,  in  con- 
formity to  the  resolution  previously  taken  (ver.  22). 

35-38.  When  Jesus  heard  that  they  had 
cast  him  out.  Perhaps  he  purposely  waited, 
that  the  man's  fidelity  to  the  truth  might  be  fully 
tested.  This  trial  of  the  blind  man  symbolizes 
the  trial  to  which  Christ  subjects  his  church 
(1  Pet.  1 : 7).  When  men  cast  the  faithful  witness 
out,  Christ  comes  to  him  (Ps.  27 :  10).  Thus  the 
man  realizes  the  promise  of  Luke  6  :  22. — Dost 
thou  believe  on  the  Son  of  God.  There 
is  an  emphasis  on  Thou  in  the  original,  which 
cannot  well  be  repeated  in  the  English.  Christ 
contrasts  his  belief  with  the  disbelief  of  the 
Pharisees.  "Believest  thou,  whilst  so  many 
others  are  disbelievers "  (Trench). — Who  is  he, 
Sire,  that  I  might  believe  on  him.  The 
word  translated  lord  {y.vfjios)  is  only  a  general 
term  of  respect.     It  is  sometimes  translated  Sir 

(Matt.  21  :  30  ;   chaps.  4  :  11,  15,  19,  49  ;   5:7;   12  :  20  ;   20  :  15). 

It  does  not  imply  here  that  the  man  recognized 
in  Jesus  the  Son  of  God.  But  his  language. 
That  I  anight  believe  on  him,  indicates  that  he 
was  ready  to  believe  when  the  Messiah  should 
be  made  known  to  him.  This  spirit  of  desire 
always  brings  the  answer  of  disclosure  (Matt.  5:6; 
Acts,  ch.  lo). — Thou  hast  both  seen  him.  A 
reminder  of  the  benefit  which  has  been  conferred 


124 


JOHN. 


[Oh.  IX. 


38  And  he  said,  Lord,  I  believe.    And  he  worshipped 
him." 

39  And  Jesus  said,  For"  judgment  I  am  come  into 


this  world,  that  they  which  see  not"  might  see  ;  and 
that  they  which  see  might  be  made  blind.' 
40  And  some  of  the  Pharisees  which  were  with  him 


u  Matt.  U  :  33. . .  .v  ch.  5  :  22,  21 ;  12  :  47. 


1  Pet.  2  :  9. . .  .X  ch.  3  :  19  ;  Matt.  13  :  13. 


upon  the  man.— And  it  is  he  that  talketh 
to  thee.  To  no  one  did  Christ  disclose  his 
divine  nature  more  clearly  than  to  this  blind 
man,  whose  fidelity  to  truth  showed  him  worthy 
to  receive  the  disclosure  of  further  truth,  and 
one  which  even  the  disciples  but  imperfectly 
apprehended. — Sire,  I  believe.  And  he 
reverenced  him.  Not  necessarily  worshipped. 
The  original  does  not  necessarily  signify  any- 
thing more  than  a  form  of  salutation  paid  by  an 
inferior  to  a  superior,  by  falling  upon  the  knees 
and  touching  the  forehead  to  the  ground.  For 
meaning  of  both  words,  "lord"  and  "wor- 
shipped," see  Matt.  8  :  2,  note.  It  is  clear,  how- 
ever, that  the  man  accepted  fully  Christ's  decla- 
ration respecting  himself,  though  not  so  clear 
that  he  fully  comprehended  his  meaning. 

The  cuke  of  the  man  born  blind.  It  is 
safe  to  assume  that  John  has  narrated  no  event 
at  such  length  as  this  miracle  and  its  subsequent 
investigation  without  a  definite  purpose.  The 
general  lessons  taught  by  this  account,  apart 
from  those  incidentally  conveyed  in  single  utter- 
ances, appear  to  me  to  be  three.  (1)  This  is  the 
only  one  of  Christ's  miracles  which  was  sub- 
jected to  a  judicial  or  quasi  judicial  investiga- 
tion. That  investigation  originated  not  with  the 
disciples,  but  with  the  people,  and  was  carried 
on  before  a  hostile  tribunal.  The  identity  of  the 
blind  man  was  established  by  his  own  testimony 
and  corroborated  by  that  of  his  parents.  That 
he  was  born  blind  was  established  by  the  same 
indisputable  evidence.  That  he  was  cured  was 
ocularly  demonstrated.  The  cure  necessarily 
involved  a  miracle,  since  congenital  blindness 
is  not  curable  by  natural  means.  The  value 
of  the  evidence  is  increased  by  the  facts  that 
the  parents  were  reluctant  witnesses ;  that  the 
man  himself  had  no  interest  to  further  the  cause 
of  Christ,  since  he  did  not  even  know  who 
he  was ;  that  the  Pharisees  themselves  were 
forced  to  the  unconscious  admission  that  a  mira- 
cle had  been  wrought  (vcr.  in,  note) ;  and  that, 
defeated  in  their  attempt  to  browbeat  the  wit- 
ness, they  endeavored  to  discredit  his  testimony 
by  excommunicating  him.  (2)  There  is  an  in- 
structive contrast  in  the  characters  so  briefiy  but 
graphically  portrayed,  (a)  The  people,  moved 
by  mere  wonder,  investigate  curiously  but  not 
earnestly,  reach  no  conclusion,  and  so  learn 
nothing  of  Christ ;  (6)  The  Pharisees,  instigated 
by  malice  and  religious  bigotry,  investigate  thor- 
oughly, and  are  compelled  to  adopt  the  conclu- 
sion that  a  miracle  has  been  wrought,  but  refuse 


to  accept  the  Worker  as  even  a  man  sent  from 
God,  and  so  learn  nothing  of  Christ,  (c)  The 
parents,  honest  but  timid,  accept  the  facts,  but 
are  unwilling  to  risk  persecution  for  truth's  sake, 
and  so  learn  nothing  of  Christ,  (c^)  The  man 
himself,  who  is  faithful  to  his  convictions,  and 
whose  convictions  grow  by  reason  of  his  fidelity, 
is  brought  to  a  knowledge  of  Jesus  as  the  Mes- 
siah, the  Son  of  God.  Thus  is  illustrated  the 
principle  that  to  find  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  it  is  not  enough  to  investigate  curiously, 
earnestly,  honestly  ;  it  is  necessary  also  to  con- 
fess fearlessly  the  truth  so  far  as  it  is  appre- 
hended. (3)  The  history  of  the  blind  man  illus- 
trates the  growth  of  faith,  as  well  as  its  condi- 
tions. At  first  he  knew  nothing  of  Jesus ;  but 
without  knowledge  or  definite  hope  he  obeys 
Christ's  direction,  goes  to  the  pool  of  Siloam, 
washes,  sees.  He  still  knows  nothing  of  the 
Healer  but  that  he  is  "a  man  that  is  called 
Jesus."  Despite  the  timidity  of  his  parents,  and 
the  threatening  of  the  Pharisees,  he  maintains 
the  truth,  defends  the  unknown,  asserts  him 
to  be  a  prophet,  and  a  man  of  God.  Finally, 
he  finds  in  him  the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  God. 
Fidelity,  in  that  which  is  least,  is  the  condition 
of  receiving  larger  gifts  in  knowledge  and  faith. 
39.  For  judgment  am  I  come  into  this 
world.  Contrast  chaps.  8  : 1.5 ;  12  :  47.  Christ 
does  not  hesitate  to  state  truths  at  different  times 
in  forms  which  make  his  statements  apparently 
contradictory.  He  does  not  come  to  announce 
judgment  or  condemnation,  but  to  provide 
mercy  ;  nevertheless,  he  has  come  for  judgment, 
since  he  draws  to  himself  all  that  love  the  divine 
character  and  the  divine  life,  and  repels  all  that 
are  worldly  and  selfish.  He  does  not  condemn, 
but  they  that  reject  him  are  self-condemned, 
testifying  that  they  love  darkness  rather  than 
light  because  their  deeds  are  evU. — That  they 
Avhich  see  not  might  see,  and  that  they 
Avhich  see  might  be  made  blind.  The 
meaning  is  not.  That  they  which  see  not  their  own 
blindness  might  be  made  to  see  it ;  this  interpreta- 
tion makes  the  second  clause  of  the  sentence 
either  a  mere  repetition  of  the  first.  And  that 
they  tohich  think  they  see  might  be  made  aware  that 
they  are  blind,  or  unmeaning.  Nor  is  it  to  be  ren- 
dered. That  they  which  see  not  spiritual  thingsmight 
be  made  to  see  them,  and  they  which  see  the  world 
might  be  made  blind  to  that  as  a  preparation  for  see- 
ing Christ ;  for  though  this  would  be  in  analogy 
with  Paul's  metaphor  (Rom.  6 :  ii ;  7 : 9),  it  would  not 
interpret  Christ's  declaration  that  he  has  come  for 


Ch.  X.] 


JOHN. 


125 


beard  these  words,  and  said  unto  him,  Are  we  ^  blind 
also  ? 

41  Jesus  said  unto  them,  If 'ye  were  blind,  ye  should 
have  no  sin :  but  now  ye  say,  We  see :  therefore  •  your 
sin  remaineth  ? 


CHAPTER  X. 

VERILY,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,''  He  that  entereth 
not  by  the  door  into  the  sneepfold,  but  climbeth 
up  some  other  way,  the  same  is  a  thief  and  a  robber. 


y  Rom.  2  :  19 ;  Rev.  3:17 z  ch.  15  :  22,  24 a  la.  5:21;  Luke  18  :  14 ;  1  John  1  :  8-10 b  Rom.  10  :  16  j  Heb.  5  :  4. 


judgment.  The  two  clauses  of  the  sentence  are  to 
be  interpreted  alike.  Christ's  coming  gave  moral 
and  spiritual  sight  to  the  publicans  who  were 
without  moral  culture,  but  opened  their  hearts 
to  receive  Christ's  instructions;  and  it  darkened 
such  moral  sense  as  the  Pharisees  already  pos- 
sessed, since  they  closed  their  eyes  to  the  clear 
revelation  which  Christ  brought.  Thus  Christ 
is  both  savor  of  life  unto  life  and  of  death  unto 
death  (2  Cor.  2 :  le),  both  the  comer-stone  and  the 

stone  of  stumbling  (1  Pet.  2:6-8;  comp.  Matt.  3  :  12,  note). 

40,  41.  Some  of  the  Pharisees  which 
were  with  him.  That  is,  who  happened 
to  be  present.  But  their  presence  as  auditors, 
coupled  with  their  question,  perhaps  implies 
that  they  were  of  that  class  which  were  inclined 
to  regard  Jesus  as  a  prophet  (ver.  n;  ch.  10 :  21). — 
Are  we  blind  also  ?  The  form  of  the  original 
Implies  a  strong  expectation  of  a  negative  reply. 
It  might  be  rendered.  Surely  we  are  not  blind 
also. — If  ye  were  blind  ye  should  have  no 
sin.  This  is  not  to  be  interpreted  away,  as 
equivalent  to,  Your  sin  would  be  less.  It  is 
literally  true,  that  sin  is  in  the  proportion  of 
knowledge,  so  that  one  who  is,  by  no  fault  of 
his  own,  absolutely  ignorant  of  moral  distinc- 
tions, is  absolutely  free  from  moral  responsi- 
bility.— Ye  say,  We  see ;  therefore  your 
sin  remains.  They  had  the  law  and  the 
prophets  which  foretold  the  Messiah  (ch.  5 :  39), 
and  they  had  the  knowledge  of  his  works  and 
the  moral  capacity  to  judge  them,  and  did  ad- 
judge that  God  was  with  him  (ch.  3 :  2),  and  that 
he  could  not  be  a  sinner  (ch.  9  :  ib).  This  was 
enough  to  render  them  guilty  in  not  following 
out  their  convictions  by  a  public  confession  of 
Christ  as  a  prophet,  which  they  really  saw  him 
to  be.  Comp.  ch.  15  :  2i ;  and  with  the  entire 
passage  (vers.  39-41),  Rom.  3  :  17-34. 


Ch.  10  :  1-21.    THE   PARABLE  OP   THE   SHEEPFOLD 
AND  THE  SHEPHERD.— The  church  of  Christ  as 

ONE  FLOCK. — To  THIS  FLOCK  THERE  IS  BUT  ONE  DOOR, 

Jesus  Christ. — Tms  door  is  opened  to  the  soul 
BT  THE  Holt  Spirit  of  God. — Evert  one  who 
enters  in  bt  this  door  is  saved.— And  becomes 
A  minister  of  grace  (a  shepherd)  to  others  — 
The  pattern  is  Jesus  Christ,  the  Good  Shep- 
herd.— Evert  true  shepherd  lives  for  the  flock. 
—He  who  does  not  is  a  hireling,  and  is  recreant  in 
time  of  danger. — The  life  op  the  flock  is  assured 
bt  the  death  of  the  good  shepherd. — that  death 
was  not  compelled  ;  it  was  voluntary. 


This  parable  was  probably  uttered  in  Judea, 
and  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Jerusalem.  The 
figure  is  drawn  from  the  spectacle,  likely  at  any 
evening  to  be  witnessed  on  the  hillsides  of  Judea, 
a  flock  of  sheep  gathered  from  the  difiEerent  fields 
in  which  they  had  been  wandering,  and  following 
their  shepherd,  who  conducts  them  to  the  sheep- 
fold,  which  they  enter,  one  by  one,  for  protec- 
tion, the  shepherd  going  before  and  leading  them 
in.  To  understand  aright  its  meaning,  two  facts, 
often  forgotten,  must  be  borne  in  mind :  (1)  that 
the  metaphor  is  used  in  the  O.  T.,  and  for  a 
double  purpose  ;  sometimes  the  shepherd  is  the 
religious  teacher  of  Israel,  whose  unfaithfulness 
is  rebuked  in  the  prophets  (jer.  23 :  1^;  Ezek.,ch.  34) ; 
sometimes  the  shepherd  is  the  Lord,  who  leads, 
defends,  and  feeds  the  soul  which  trusts  in  him 
(Pa.  23;  leaiah  40 :  ii) ;  (3)  the  parable  is  closely  con- 
nected with  the  discourse  concerning  blindness, 
growing  out  of  the  cure  of  the  blind  man,  and  is 
given  for  the  purpose  of  emphasizing  and  carry- 
ing out  the  warnings  therein  contained  against 
the  Pharisees  as  blind  leaders  of  the  blind  (Mau. 
15 :  14).  I  understand,  then,  that  it  is  a  parable 
with  a  double  application.  First,  Christ  com- 
pares the  Pharisees  to  shepherds,  himself  to  the 
door,  and  declares  that  they  alone  are  true  shep- 
herds who  enter  into  Israel  through,  i.  e.,  under 
command  from,  and  with  the  authority  of, 
Christ  as  the  Messiah — all  others  are  thieves  and 
robbers  (vers.  7-10) ;  he  then  changes  the  applica- 
tion, retaining  the  figure,  declares  himself  to  be 
the  shepherd,  whose  praises  David  and  Isaiah 
sang,  and  indicates  the  nature  of  the  service 
which  he  will  render  to  his  sheep,  namely,  giving 
his  life  for  them.  The  parable  itself  embraces 
verses  1-6 ;  the  first  application,  a  lesson  against 
the  false  Pharisaical  teachers,  verses  7-10 ;  the 
second  application,  a  lesson  concerning  himself 
as  the  good  shepherd,  verses  11-18.  The  first 
application  is  interpreted  by  Ezekiel,  ch.  34 ;  the 
second,  by  Psalm  33  and  Isaiah  40  :  11.  The 
ordinary  interpretation,  which  regards  Christ  as 
referring  to  himself  throughout  as  shepherd, 
necessarily  supposes  that  he  employs  a  mixed 
metaphor,  in  which,  without  any  apparent  rea- 
son, he  alternately  represents  himself  as  the  door 
and  the  shepherd. 

1.  He  that  entereth  not  by  the  door 
into  the  sheepfold.  Sheepfolds,  as  usually 
constructed  in  the  East,  are  low,  flat  buildings, 
erected  on  the  sheltered  side  of  the  valleys,  and 


126 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  X. 


2  But  he  that  entereth  in  by  the  "^  door  is  the  shep- 
herd of  the  sheep. 

3  To  him  <"  the  porter  openeth ;  and  the  sheep  hear 


his  voice :  and  he  calleth "  his  own  sheep  by  name 
and  leadeth  f  them  out. 
4  And  when  he  putteth  forth  his  own  sheep,  he  goeth 


Verse  7,  9 d  Rev.  3  :  20 e  Ezek.  34  :  11 ;  Rom.  8  :  30 f  lea.  40  :  11. 


when  the  nights  are  cold,  the  flocks  are  shut  up 
in  them,  but  in  ordinary  weather  they  are  merely 
kept  within  the  yard.  During  the  day,  of  course, 
they  are  led  forth  to  pasture  by  the  shepherds. 
The  folds  are  defended  by  a  wide  stone  wall, 
crowned  by  sharp  thorns  which  the  wolf  will 
rarely  attempt  to  scale.  The  leopard  and  pan- 
ther, however,  when  pressed  with  hunger,  will 
overleap  the  thorny  hedge,  and  make  havoc  of 
the  flock.  In  Greece,  folds  are  sometimes  built 
merely  of  a  parapet  of  bushes  or  branches,  placed 
at  the  entrance  of  caves,  natural  or  made  for 
the  purpose,  in  the  side  of  hUls  or  rocky  ledges. 
A  porter  guards  the  door  of  the  larger  sheep- 
folds.  See  Thompson's  Land  and  Book,  I,  299, 
and    Smith'' s   Bible   Diet.,   Art.    Sheepfold,     The 


^Ur^O- 


AN  EASTERN   SHEEPFOLD. 

sheepfold,  in  this  parable,  answers  primarily 
to  Israel,  the  then  visible  and  organic  church  of 
God,  but  secondarily  to  the  church  of  Christ 
in  all  ages,  the  visible  and  external  organization, 
in  which  the  professed  disciples  of  Christ,  his 
sheep,  are  gathered  for  better  protection.  He 
that  enters  not  by  the  door,  but  furtively  climbs 
up  some  other  way,  marks  himself  thereby  as 
evil  disposed. 

2.  He  that  entereth  in  by  the  door  the 
same  is  a  shepherd  of  the  sheep.  Not, 
as  in  our  English  version,  the  shepherd.  The 
definite  article  is  wanting.  Christ  does  not  de- 
clare that  the  evidence  that  he  is  the  Shepherd 
consists  in  the  fact  that  he  entered  through  the 
door,  for  he  is  himself  the  door.  He  declares  to 
the  Pharisees,  who  reject  him  as  their  Messiah, 
that  there  is  a  double  test  of  tlie  religious  teacher : 
(1)  he  must  enter  into  the  church  by  the  way  by 


which  he  directs  the  sheep  to  enter.  There  is 
not  one  salvation  for  the  teacher  and  another  for 
the  taught ;  the  door  is  the  same  to  all ;  and 
(2)  he  must  enter  by  the  one  only  door,  Jesus 
Christ.  Whoever  comes  in  the  name  and  with 
the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  shepherd  of 
the  sheep ;  whoever  comes  to  preach  any  other 
Gospel,  comes  to  rob  the  sheep  of  their  Saviour 

and  salvation  (Oal.  l  :  8,  9  ;  2  John,  ver.  lo). 

3.  To  him  the  porter  openeth.  "The 
Holy  Spirit  is  especially  He  who  opens  the  door 
to  the  shepherds ;  see  frequent  uses  of  this  sym- 
bolism by  the   apostles  (Acts  14  -.H;   1  Cor.  16  :  9  ;   2  Cor. 

2 :  12 ;  Col.  4:3);  and  instances  of  the  porter  shut- 
ting the  door  (Acts  i6 ;  6,  ?)." — {Alford.)  There  is 
the  implication  here  of  a  truth  elsewhere  abun- 
dantly taught  in  Scripture, 
mp-^^i^-^^  that  the  teacher  has  access  to 

the  heart  of  the  church  only 
through  the  influence  of  the 
^#  ^  4-  Spirit  of  God,  who  opens  and 
closes  the  heart  of  the  hearer 
(i  Thess.  1 : 5 ;  2 :  i),  and  the  door  of 

opportunity  (Acts  4  :  7,  8  ;  16  :  9  ;  17  : 

10,11). — And  he  calleth  his 
own  sheep  by  name  and 
leadeth  them  out.  This 
figure  exactly  corresponds 
with  the  actual  facts  of  shep- 
herd life  in  the  East.  "As 
we  eat  and  looked,  almost 
spell-bound,  the  silent  hill- 
sides around  us  were  in  a  mo- 
ment filled  with  life  and 
sound.  The  shepherds  led 
their  flocks  forth  from  the  gates  of  the  city. 
They  were  in  full  view,  and  we  watched  them 
and  listened  to  them  with  no  little  interest. 
Thousands  of  sheep  and  goats  were  there, 
grouped  in  dense,  confused  masses.  The  shep- 
herds stood  together  until  all  came  out.  Then 
they  separated,  each  shepherd  taking  a  different 
path,  and  uttering,  as  he  advanced,  a  shrill, 
peculiar  call.  The  sheep  heard  them.  At  first 
the  masses  swayed  and  moved,  as  if  shaken  by 
some  internal  convulsion  ;  then  points  struck  out 
in  the  direction  taken  by  the  shepherds  ;  these  be- 
came longer  and  longer,  until  the  confused  masses 
were  resolved  into  long,  living  streams,  flowing 
after  their  leaders.  Such  a  sight  was  not  new  to 
me,  still  it  had  lost  none  of  its  interest.  It  was, 
perhaps,  one  of  the  most  vivid  illustrations  which 
human  eyes  could  witness  of  that  beautiful  dis- 
course of  our  Lord  recorded  by  John." — {Furter.} 


Ch.  X.] 


JOHN. 


127 


before  them,  and  the  sheep  follow  him :  for  they  know 
his  voice.* 

5  And  a  stranger  will  they  not  follow,  but  will  flee*" 
from  him  :  for  tney  know  not  the  voice  of  strangers. 

6  This  parable  spake  Jesus  unto  them :   but  they 


understood  not  what  things  they  were  which  he  spake 
unto  them. 

7  Then  said  Jesus  unto  them  again.  Verily,  verily,  I 
say  unto  you,  I '  am  the  door  of  the  sheep. 

8  All  that  ever  came  before  me  are  thieves  and  rob- 
bers :  but  the  sheep  did  not  hear  them. 


g  Cant.  2:8;  5:2. ...h  2  Tim.  3:6;  Rev.  2  :  2  ....  i  Eph.  2:18. 


4,5.  And  when  he  putteth  forth  his 
own  sheep,  he  goeth  before  them,  and 
the  sheep  follow  him.  The  true  pastor  is 
an  example  and  leader  as  well  as  a  teacher  of  his 

people  (l  Cor.  n  :  1  ;  Gal.  4  :  12;   Phil.  3  ;  17  ;    1  Thess.  1  :  6). 

— A  stranger  Avill  they  not  follow.    The 

stranger  is  not  the  shepherd  of  another  flock, 
but  one  who  is  a  stranger  and  a  foreigner,  out- 
side the  fold  and  separated  from  the  great  flock 
of  the  Israel  of  God.  The  true  Christian  is 
never  a  stranger  to  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ 
(Ephee.  2 :  19). — They  Icnow  not  the  voice  of 
strangers.  The  shepherd  knows  his  own  sheep 
by  name,  and  they  know  his  voice ;  but  the 
stranger's  voice  they  do  not  know.  The  figure 
is  all  true  to  the  life.  "  The  shepherd  calls 
sharply  to  them  from  time  to  time  to  remind 
them  (the  sheep)  of  his  presence.  They  know 
his  voice  and  follow  on  ;  but  if  a  stranger  calls, 
they  stop  short,  lift  up  their  heads  in  alarm,  and 
if  it  is  repeated,  they  turn  and  flee,  because  they 
know  not  the  voice  of  a  stranger.  This  is  not 
the  fanciful  costume  of  a  parable  ;  it  is  a  simple 
fact." — {Thompson''s  Land  and  Book,  I,  301.) 
This  personality  of  relation  between  the  true 
religious  teacher  and  the  taught,  abundantly 
illustrated  by  Christ's  personal  love  for  his  dis- 
ciples, and  by  Paul's  love  for  the  converts  gath- 
ered under  his  ministry,  is  in  strong  contrast 
to  the  distance  which  was  maintained  between 
the  Pharisees  and  the  common  people.  It  is  not 
then  a  fanciful  deduction  that,  under  ordinary 
circumstances,  the  pastor  should  have  a  personal 
acquaintance  with  his  people,  should  not  have 
so  large  a  charge  that  he  cannot  know  his  people 
by  name,  and  should  ordinarily  depend  for  his 
influence  upon  his  personal  acquaintance  with 
them,  and  their  personal  confidence  in  him. 

G.  This  parable  spake  Jesus  unto  them. 
Rather  allegory  or  obscure  saying.  The  original 
word  (nuooiulu)  is  different  from  that  in  the 
other  Evangelists  translated  parable,  and  the 
structure  of  the  teaching  is  somewhat  different 
from  that  of  the  parables  narrated  by  the  other 
Evangelists.  See  on  the  nature  of  the  parable, 
Matthew,  ch.  13,  Prel.  Note.  This,  however, 
more  nearly  approximates  a  true  parable  than  any 
other  of  Christ's  instructions  reported  by  John. 
— But  they  understood  not  what  things 
they  were  which  he  spake  unto  them. 
That  is,  the  Pharisees  to  whom  he  was  speaking 
did  not  understand  the  meaning  and  application 


of  his  imagery.  "  They  did  not  feel  the  applica- 
tion of  it ;  they  did  not  see  what  shepherds  and 
sheepfolds  had  to  do  with  them.  They  could 
hardly  have  given  a  greater  proof  how  little  they 
understood  the  things  which  were  written  in 
the  books  they  prized  most — how  their  worship 
of  the  divine  letter  had  destroyed  all  commerce 
between  their  minds  and  the  realities  which  it 
set  forth." — {Maurice.) 

7.  Verses  7-10  inclusive,  contain  the  first  appli- 
cation of  the  parable,  primarily  to  the  Pharisees, 
as  religious  teachers  of  Israel,  and  secondarily 
to  all  that  claim  to  be  shepherds  of  God's 
people,  then  or  now. — I  am  the  door.  "That 
is,  through  me  all  the  truths  and  blessings  of 
religion  are  to  be  communicated  to  the  flock,  or 
people  of  God.  Whoever  addresses  them  as  an 
authorized  teacher  must  enter  through  me." — 
{Norton. )  It  is  the  Holy  Spirit  (the  porter,  ver.  3) 
who  opens  Christ  to  the  heart  and  the  heart  ta 
Christ,  and  makes  it  possible  for  either  the  sheep 
(the  learners)  or  the  under-shepherd  (the  teacher) 
to  enter  into  the  fold  through  him  (chaps.  6 :  37,  44 ; 

14  :  26;    15  :  96). 

8.  AH  Avhosoever  came  before  me  are 
thieves  and  robbers.  This  verse  is  declared 
by  Tholuck  to  be  "one  of  the  most  diflacult 
sentences  in  the  N.  T."  If  before  (7r^)o)be  taken 
as  an  adverb  of  time,  as  is  generally  done,  then 
Christ's  declaration  is  that  all  religious  teachers 
who  preceded  him  were  thieves  and  robbers,  and 
this  would  on  its  face  include  the  long  line  of 
prophets  from  Moses  to  Malachi ;  or  if  the  sen- 
tence is  modified,  as  some  propose,  by  the  fact 
that  the  verb  is  in  the  present  tense,  are  thieves 
and  robbers,  so  that  Christ  embraces  only  the 
then  living  teachers,  still  this  would  include 
such  instructors  as  Gamaliel  and  Nicodemus,  if 
not  John  the  Baptist,  who  belonged  to  that 
generation.  The  qualification  of  this,  by  the 
supposition  that  Christ  did  not  include  true 
teachers  but  only  the  false,  not  only  falsifies  his 
declaration  which  points  out  the  way  in  which 
the  true  may  be  distinguished  from  the  false, 
but  reduces  the  sentence  to  a  truism,  viz..  All 
false  religious  teachers  who  came  before  me,  are 
thieves  and  robbers,  /.  e.,  teachers  of  falsehood, 
depriving  men  of  the  truth.  The  other  proposed 
qualification,  All  who  have  come  claiming  to  be 
Messiah,  are  thieves,  etc.,  not  only  adds  an  im- 
portant qualification  to  Christ's  declaration,  but 
is  historically  an  anachronism,  inasmuch  as  there 


128 


JOHN". 


[Ch.  X. 


y  I  am  the  door  :  by  me  if  any  man  enter  in,  he  shall 
be  saved,  and  shall  go  in  and  out,  and  find  pasture. 

lo  The  thief  cometh  not,  but  tor  to  steal,  and  to  kill, 
and  to  destroy  :  I  am  come  that  they  might  have  lite, 
and  that  they  might  have  it  more  abundantly. 


11  I J  am  the  good  shepherd ;  the  good  shepherd 
giveth  his  life  for  the  sheep. 

12  But  he  that  is  an  hireling,  and  not  the  shepherd, 
whose  own  the  sheep  are  not,  seeth  the  wolf  coming, 
and  leaveth ''  the  sheep,  and  fleeth :  and  the  wolf 
catcheth  them,  and  scattereth  the  sheep. 


j  Heb.  13  :  20  ;  1  Pet.  2  :  25 k  Ezek.  34  :  2-6 ;  Zech.  II  :  17. 


is  no  historical  evidence  that  any  false  Messiah 
preceded  the  time  of  Christ.  I  am  inclined, 
therefore,  to  take  before  {nqo)  as  an  adverb  signi- 
fying precedence  in  rank  or  authority,  as  it  does 
In  Col.  1  :  17,  James  5  :  12,  and  1  Pet.  4  :  8,  and 
to  understand  the  passage,  All  whosoever  come 
claiming  precedence  above  me  are  thieves  and  robbers. 
The  verb  come  {i]).^o\)  is  in  the  aorist  tense,  and 
does  not  necessarily  indicate  a  coming  in  the  past 
only,  but  would  be  properly  used  for  the  enun- 
ciation of  a  general  principle.  The  prophets  of 
the  O.  T.  claimed  no  such  precedence  above 
Christ ;  on  the  contrary,  they  were  but  his 
heralds ;  and  John  the  Baptist  distinctly  dis- 
avowed such  precedence  (Matt.  Z  -.  U;  chaps,  l  :  26,  27  ; 

3  :  3o).  The  Pharisees,  on  the  other  hand,  denied 
Christ's  right  to  teach,  because  he  did  not  belong 
to  their  schools  (ch.  7  :  15),  and  in  their  conference 
with  the  blind  man  had  put  themselves  above 
Christ  (ch.  9  :  16, 24).  Where  there  is  no  general 
agreement  among  scholars,  I  hesitate  to  offer  an 
interpretation  which  differs  from  all,  but  this 
appears  to  me  on  the  whole  more  consistent  with 
the  context,  and  with  the  teaching  of  the  N.  T. 
elsewhere,  than  any  other,  and  not  inconsistent 
with  the  original.  If  this  be  a  correct  interpreta- 
tion, Christ's  claim  here  is  directly  antagonistic 
to  those  who  would  make  an  eclectic  religion, 
by  selecting  truth  from  all  the  world's  religious 
teachers,  including  Christ  among  the  rest.  For 
he  declares  all  to  be  robbing  the  world  of  truth, 
not  imparting  it,  who  deny  him  the  pre-eminent 
rank  as  a  religious  teacher.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  does  not  stigmatize  genuine  moral  teachers, 
such  as  Buddha  or  Socrates,  as  thieves  and  rob- 
bers, for  they  had  no  knowledge  of  Christ,  and 
claimed  no  precedence  above  him. — But  the 
sheep  did  not  hear  them.  This  has  been 
eminently  true  of  all  teachers  in  the  church  who 
have  put  themselves  above  Christ ;  it  is  the 
preachers  of  Christ  who  alone  have  secured  the 
world's  attention.  This  is  illustrated  by  the 
history  of  Paul  (2  Cor.  4  : 5),  Luther,  "Wesley,  and 
in  our  own  times  Spurgeon,  Moody,  and  others. 

9,  I  am  the  door;  by  me  if  any  enter 
in,  he  shall  be  safe.  Christ  is  not  only  the 
door  by  whom  the  shepherd  (the  teacher)  can 
alone  enter  in  to  feed  the  flock,  he  is  also  the 
door  by  which  alone  the  sheep  (the  disciples) 
can  enter  into  the  church  and  into  security  (Acts 

4  :  12).  The  extent  and  assurance  of  this  safety 
is  expressed  below  (vers.  28, 29).    And  observe,  the 


promise  is  not  merely  shall  be  saved  in  the  future, 
but  shall  be  safe,  i.  e.,  from  the  time  of  entering 

the    door    (ch.  3  :  is,  36;    Rom.  8  :  1,   28,  31,  etc.) — And 

shall  go  in  and  out  and  find  pasture.    To 

"go  in  and  out"  was  a  common  Hebraistic 
phrase  to  denote  the  whole  life  and  action  of 
man  (Deut.  28 : 6 ;  Psalm  121 :  s).  Hcrc,  therefore,  the 
meaning  is  that  he  who  thus  enters  the  door, 
shall  be  blessed  in  all  his  ways.  His  pasture  is 
the  bread  of  life  and  water  of  life,  promised  in 
chaps.  4  :  14 ;  6  :  48-51.  So  that  Christ  is  at 
once  the  door,  the  shepherd,  and  the  pasture ; 
the  entrance,  the  guardian  and  guide,  and  the 
food  of  the  disciple. 

10.  The  thief  cometh  not  but  for  to 
steal  *  *  *  *  I  am  come  that  they  might 
have  life,  etc.  A  contrast  between  false  reli- 
gion and  the  true,  heathenism  or  Pharisaism  and 
Christianity.  The  false  religion  comes  to  deprive 
men  of  their  liberty,  their  property,  their  earthly 
happiness,  to  kill  their  natural  and  free  iife,  and 
to  destroy,  finally,  the  soul.  The  true  religion 
comes  first  to  give  this  present  life  more  abun- 
dant development,  and  then  through  that  to  give 
eternal  life.  Hence,  whatever  form  of  religion 
tends  to  deprive  mankind  of  its  free,  natural, 
and  joyous  life  is  anti-Christian ;  the  constant 
tendency  of  Christ's  teaching  and  influence  is  to 
make  the  whole  life,  social,  intellectual,  moral, 
and  spiritual,  more  abundant. 

11,  12.  With  these  verses  Christ  gives  a  new 
direction  to  the  preceding  parable.  He  has  thus 
far  spoken  of  religious  teachers  in  general,  and 
of  himself  as  the  door  by  which  they  alone  can 
enter  in  to  feed  the  flock,  and  by  which  alone 
the  flock  can  enter  in  to  find  safety.  He  now 
speaks  of  himself  as  the  Great  Shepherd  and 
Bishop  of  souls  (i  Pet.  2 :  25),  Under  whom  are  all 
the  shepherds,  and  in  contrast  with  whom  are 
the  hirelings. — I  am  the  Good  Shepherd, 
more  literally  the  beautiful  Shepherd ;  but  this 
word  {y.ali'ic),  though  strictly  speaking  esthetic, 
was  used  by  the  Greeks  to  designate  moral 
beauty,  and  referred  to  the  most  symmetrical 
and  perfect  goodness.  Throughout  the  O.  T.  the 
church  of  God  is  regarded  as  a  fold,  Israel  as  a 
flock,  and  Jehovah  himself  as  the  Shepherd  (Ps.  23  j 

Isa.  40:11;  Ezek.,  ch.  34  ;   Jer.,  ch.  23  ;    Micah  5  :  3  ;   Zech.,  ch.  ll). 

It  is  impossible  but  that  Christ's  auditors  should 
have  understood  him  as  claiming  to  be  this 
Shepherd  of  Israel.  Observe  the  difference  be- 
tween the  phraseology  here  and  in  verse  2 ;  here 


Ch.  X.J 


JOHN. 


129 


13  The  hireling  fleeth,  because  he  is  an  hireling,  and 
careth  not  for  the  sheep. 


14  I  am  the  good  shepherd,  and'  know  my  sheep, 
and  am  known  ™  of  mine. 


1  2  Tim.  2  :  19  . 


the  good  Shepherd ;  there  a  Shepherd. — The 
good  shepherd  layeth  down  his  life  for 
the  sheep.  This  is  not  a  prophecy,  equivalent 
to,  I  am  about  to  die  for  my  sheep ;  it  is  the 
enunciation  of  a  general  principle  by  which  every 
good  shepherd  can  be  distinguished  from  the 
hireling;  for  eveiy  good  shepherd  is  ready  to 
sacrifice  his  life  for  his  sheep  because  they  are 
his ;  the  hireling  flees  when  danger  threatens, 
because  he  is  an  hireling  and  has  no  real  interest 
in  the  sheep.  Neither  is  the  expression  to  lay 
down  the  life  a  circumlocution  for  die.  Christ 
rarely  uses  circumlocution  of  any  kind.  The 
good  shepherd  may  or  may  not  be  called  on  to 
die  for  his  sheep  ;  but  he  always  lays  down  his 
life  for  them.  To  lay  down  the  life  is  to  conse- 
crate it,  devote  it  to  the  flock  ;  as  a  mother,  who 
is  always  ready  to  die  for  her  children,  but  who, 
living  or  dying,  belongs  to  her  children  and  sur- 
renders herself  to  them.  So  we  ought  also  to 
lay  down  our  lives  for  the  brethren  (1  John  3 .-  le), 
though  comparatively  few  are  ever  called  on  to 
die  for  them.  Wickliffe  and  Luther  as  truly  laid 
down  their  lives  for  the  flock  as  Huss  and  Tyn- 
dale.  The  sacrifice  of  Christ  consisted  not 
merely  in  his  death — which  was  indeed  in  its 
mere  physical  aspects  the  least  part  of  it — but 
in  bis  whole  incarnation.  His  entire  life  from 
his  advent  to  the  grave  was  laid  down  for  his 
sheep.  This  laying  down  of  his  life  includes  his 
death ;  but  it  includes  much  more.  The  whole 
thirty  years  was  a  living  sacrifice  for  sinful 
humanity  (phu.  2 : 5-8). — But  he  that  is  an  liire- 
ling,  not  being  a  shepherd,  whose  own 
the  sheep  are  not,  seeth  the  wolf  coming, 
and  leaveth  the  sheep  and  tleeth.  Every 
clause  in  this  sentence  must  be  carefully  weighed 
by  the  student ;  for  every  clause  is  full  of 
weighty  significance.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
sentence,  if  the  whole  be  considered,  adverse  to 
a  paid  ministry.  Not  every  one  who  is  hired  is 
an  hireling  (1  Tim.  5 :  is) ;  only  he  who  serves  for 
hire,  whether  emoluments  or  reputation ;  who 
accordingly  is  not  a  shepherd,  i.  e.,  has  none  of 
the  shepherd's  instincts  and  none  of  the  shep- 
herd's love  for  his  flock;  whose  ovm  the  sheep  are 
not,  i.  e.,  who  has  none  of  that  sense  of  owner- 
ship in  his  flock  which   Paul  experienced  and 

expressed     (1  Cor.  4  :  U,  15  ;     1  Thess.  2:11;    1  Tim.  1:2; 

Titus  1:4;  pijiiemon  lo) ;  who,  therefore,  careth  not 
for  the  sheep  (ver.  13),  but  only  for  himself.  Here, 
as  everywhere  in  Christ's  instructions,  it  is  the 
evil  spirit  which  he  condemns  and  the  right 
spirit  which  he  exalts.  The  hirelings  of  Christ's 
day  were  those  among  the  chief  rulers  and  the 


priests,  the  religious  teachers  of  Israel,  who  be- 
lieved on  Jesus,  but  would  not  confess  their 
faith  for  fear  of  the  hierarchy  (ch.  9  :  22;  12 :  42,  43 ; 
19  :  38).  The  hirelings  ever  since  have  been 
those  in  the  church,  whether  paid  preachers  or 
no,  who  have  feared  to  withstand  falsehood  and 
danger,  and  have  suffered  popular  sins  to  pass 
unrebuked  lest  they  should  bring  obloquy  upon 
themselves,  or  loss  of  friends,  or  personal  peril, 
or  any  martyrdom,  large  or  small.  The  hireling, 
too,  does  not  merely ^ee;  the  true  shepherd  has 
sometimes  to  do  this  (Matt.  10  :  23) ;  Christ  himself 

did  this  repeatedly  (Matt.  14  :  is  ;  Luke  4  :  30 ;  John  8  :  59  ; 

10  :  39).  It  is  characteristic  of  the  hireling  that 
he  leaveth  the  sheep  and  fleeth.  Caution  may  lead 
the  true  pastor  to  avoid  a  conflict  which  will 
bring  greater  disaster  on  the  flock  than  battle  ; 
but  his  caution  is  always  to  be  exercised  for  the 
sheep,  not  for  himself.  It  is  caring  for  one's 
self  more  than  for  the  church  that  marks  the 
hireling. — The  wolf  catcheth  them  and 
scattereth  the  sheep.  Any  and  every  willful 
and  determined  opponent  to  truth  and  righteous- 
ness is  a  wolf ;  whether  he  is  a  persecuting 
power  like  that  of  pagan  and  papal  Rome,  or  a 
false  teacher,  a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing  (Matt.  ? :  15 ; 
Acts  20  ;  29).  The  wolf  at  this  particular  juncture 
was  the  Pharisaic  party,  which  was  ravaging  the 
church  of  God,  and  binding  heavy  burdens  on 
the  people,  whom  Christ  denounced,  and  in  bat- 
tle with  whom  he  suffered  death. 

13-15.  The  hireling  ***  careth  not  for 
the  sheep  *  *  *  I  know  my  sheep.  Christ 
reiterates  the  contrast  between  the  hireling  and 
the  good  shepherd  ;  and  indicates  anew  points 
of  distinction  between  the  two.  The  hireling 
careth  not  for  the  sheep ;  he  cares  only  for  his 
wages ;  the  good  shepherd  knows  his  sheep  and 
is  known  by  them.  In  a  limited  way  this  is  true 
of  the  good  pastor  or  shepherd ;  he  knows  his 
flock  personally  and  sympathizingly ;  he  is  not 
merely  a  preacher  to  them ;  he  is  their  best 
friend  and  adviser  (ver.  3,  note).  But  this  knowl- 
edge is  never  perfect,  and  never  can  be,  in  the 
under  shepherd.  His  insight  is  imperfect;  his 
sympathy  is  partial.  It  is  only  Christ  who  can 
say  I  kiioiv  my  sheep.  "If  you  would  think 
rightly  of  the  Son  of  Man,  think  of  the  Person 
who  knows  thoroughly  everything  that  each  one 
of  you  is  feeling,  and  cannot  utter  to  others  or 
to  himself — every  temptation  from  riches,  from 
poverty,  from  solicitude,  from  society,  from  gifts 
of  intellect,  from  the  want  of  them,  from  the 
gladness  of  the  spirit,  from  the  barrenness  and 
dreariness  of  it,  from  the  warmth  of  affection 


130 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  X. 


IS  As"  the  Father  knoweth  me,  even  so  know  I  the 
Father:  and"  1  lay  down  my  life  for  the  sheep. 

i6  AndP  other  sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of  this 
fold  ;  them  also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  my 
voice ;  and  i  there  shall  be  one  fold,  and  one  shep- 
herd. 


17  Therefore  doth  my  Father  love  me,  because'  I 
lay  down  my  Hfe,  that  I  might  take  it  agam. 

18  No  man  taketh  it  from  me,  but"  I  lay  it  down 
of  myself  I  have  power  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  •  have 
power  to  take  it  again.  This "  commandment  have  I 
received  of  my  Father. 


n  Matt,  n  :  27. . .  .0  ch.  15  :  13 ;  Isa.  53  :  4,  5. . .  .p  Isa.  49  :  6  ;  66  :  8. . .  .q  Ezek.  37  :  52  ;  Ephes.  2  :  14. . .  .r  Isa.  63  :  7-12  ;   Heb.  2:9.... 

s  Phil.  2:6-8.... t  ch.  2: 19....U  ch.  6  :  38. 


and  from  the  drying  up  of  affection,  from  the 
anguish  of  doubt  and  the  dulness  of  indifference, 
from  the  whirlwind  of  passion  and  the  calm 
which  succeeds  it,  from  the  vile  thoughts  which 
spring  out  of  fleshly  appetites  and  indulgences, 
from  the  darker,  more  terrible  suggestions  which 
are  presented  to  the  inner  will.  Believe  that  he 
knows  all  these,  that  he  knows  you.  And  then 
believe  this  also,  that  all  he  knows  is  through 
intense,  inmost  sympathy,  not  with  the  evil  that 
is  assaulting  you,  but  with  you  who  are  assaulted 
by  it.  Believe  that  knowledge,  in  this  the  Scrip- 
tural sense  of  it — the  human  as  well  as  the  divine 
sense  of  it — is  absolutely  inseparable  from  sympa- 
thy."— {Maurice.^ — And  am  known  of  mine. 
Christ's  knowledge  of  the  Christian  is  the  basis 
of  the  Christian's  knowledge  of  Christ.  Both  are 
sympathetic  and  personal,  the  knowledge  of  love. 
It  is  because  the  Good  Shepherd  knows  his  sheep 
that  he  is  known  of  them.  It  is  because  by  his 
knowledge  he  is  able  to  enter  into  our  innermost 
experience,  and  to  give  us  comfort  and  strength 
when  all  human  helpers  fail,  that  we  come  to 
know  him  as  our  Helper  and  our  Strength.  We 
know  him  as  the  Good  Shepherd  only  as  we  fol- 
low his  guidance,  accept  the  food  and  water  he 
gives  us,  are  restored  by  him  when  wandering, 
and  delivered  by  him  from  danger  and  death. — 
As  the  Father  knoweth  me,  even  so  know 
I  the  Father ;  and  I  lay  doAvn  my  life 
for  the  sheep.  The  connection  is  not  very 
clear  between  this  sentence  and  the  preceding 
one,  or  between  the  different  clauses  of  this  sen- 
tence. It  seems  to  me,  however,  that  Christ 
refers  to  this  knowledge  between  himself  and  the 
Father,  not  merely  to  illustrate  the  knowledge 
between  himself  and  his  disciples,  but  to  turn 
their  thoughts  from  himself  to  the  Father. 
Christ  has  been  accused  of  blasphemy  by  the 
Jews ;  that  is,  of  endeavoring  to  deflect  the 
reverence  and  allegiance  of  the  people  from  God 
to  himself.  It  must  be  confessed  that  there  has 
often  been  a  tendency  in  his  disciples  to  substi- 
tute the  Saviour  for  the  Father,  to  believe  in 
the  sympathy  of  Christ,  but  not  in  the  sympathy 
of  God,  to  believe  in  the  love  of  the  Redeemer, 
but  to  attribute  justice  and  wrath  to  Jehovah. 
Christ  guards  against  this  tendency,  and  refutes 
this  accusation,  by  the  declaration  that  he  knows 
perfectly  every  wish  and  will  of  the  Father,  and 
in  the  whole  course  of  his  self-sacrifice,  in  all  the 
laying  down  of  his  life  for  humanity,  he  is  carry- 


ing out  that  will.  Thus  the  declaration  of  this 
verse  leads  one  to  that  of  verse  17 :  "Therefore 
doth  my  Father  love  me  because  I  lay  down  my 
life." 

16-18.  Other  sheep  I  have  which  are  not 
from  (iz)  this  fold.  Not,  Which  are  in  other 
worlds  ;  for  the  Bible  does  not  anywhere  recog- 
nize this  world  as  the  fold  of  God  :  nor,  Others 
from  among  the  dispersed  Jews  scattered  among 
the  Gentiles ;  for  these  were  already  in  "  this 
fold,"  none  the  less  belonging  to  Israel  because 
they  were  geographically  separated  from  their 
brethren.  The  reference  is  to  those  whom 
Christ  has  among  the  Gentiles,  and,  as  I  believe, 
still  has  among  the  heathen  (Acts  10 ;  35 ;  is :  10). 
They  are  not,  however,  in  a  flock  or  fold,  but 
scattered  (ch.  11 :  52).  Observe,  Christ  does  not  say 
I  am  to  have — the  present  is  not  used  in  lieu  of 
the  future.  He  already  has  them  ;  they  are  his 
sheep ;  he  recognizes  as  his  own  those  whose 
spirit  is  akin  to  his,  though  they  do  not  recog- 
nize him  as  theirs  (Matt.  25 :  37-40). — Them  also 
I  must  lead.  Not  bring,  i.  e.,  to  the  Jewish 
nation,  but  lead  as  a  shepherd.  He  must  be 
leader  to  all  who  will  follow  him,  whether  Jew 
or  Gentile. — And  there  shall  be  one  flock, 
one  Shepherd.  Not  one /o?(?,  as  unfortunately 
translated  in  our  English  version  {ula  jiol^ivi],  not 
fiia  avh'i).  "Not  one  fold,  but  one  flock ;  no  one 
exclusive  enclosure  of  an  outward  church — but 
one  flock,  all  knowing  the  one  Shepherd,  and 
known  of  Him." — i^Alford.)  And  one  flock  be- 
cause one  Shepherd  ;  one  not  in  creed,  or  organi- 
zation, or  method  of  worship,  but  one  in  Christ 
Jesus  (seever.  30). — Therefore  doth  my  Father 
love  me  because  I  lay  down  my  life.  Not 
because  I  have  laid  it  down,  as  though  the  love 
of  the  Father  were  caused  by  the  earthly  love 
and  sacrifice  of  Christ,  but  because  I  lay  it  down. 
That  is,  because  Christ's  Spirit  is  one  of  self- 
sacrificing  love,  manifested  by,  but  not  alone 
embodied  in  the  incarnation,  he  is  loved  by 
the  Father.  See  Phil.  2:9;  Heb.  1  :  9.— In 
order  that  I  may  take  it  again.  Beware 
of  understanding  this,  as  many  of  the  commen- 
tators seem  to  do,  as  equivalent  to,  I  die  in  order 
that  I  may  rise  from  the  dead.  The  meaning  is- 
interpreted  by  Christ's  declaration  to  his  disci- 
ples :  "  He  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake  shall 
find  it."  Christ  lays  down  his  life  by  his  humilia- 
tion, his  incarnation,  his  passion  and  his  cruci- 
fixion, that  he  may  take  it  again  in  the  life  of  the 


Ch.  X.] 


JOHN. 


131 


19  There  was  a  division  therefore  again  among  the 
Jews  for  these  sayings. 

20  And  many  of  tnem  said,  He  "  hath  a  devil,  and  is 
mad  ;  why  hear  ye  him  ? 


21  Others  said,  These  are  not  the  words  of  him  that 
hath  a  devil.    Can  a  devil  open  "  the  eyes  of  the  blind  ? 

22  And  it  was  at  Jerusalem  the  feast  of  the  dedica- 
tion, and  it  was  winter. 


T  ch.  7  :  20 . . . .  w  ch.  9  :  6,  etc. 


myriads  whom  he  has  redeemed  from  death  by 
his  own  death.  He  takes  it  again  when  he  sees 
of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  is  satisfied  (isa.  53 :  11 ), 
which  he  does  when  those  who  have  been  washed 
and  made  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  stand 
before  him  (Rev.  7  :  14,  15).  So  every  mother,  lay- 
ing down  her  life  in  continued  self-sacrifice  for 
her  children,  takes  it  again  in  their  developed 
manhood  and  womanhood. — No  one  taketh  it 
from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself. 
No  one  is  not  equivalent  to  no  ma7i,  a  translation 
which  weakens  if  it  does  not  destroy  the  sense. 
The  sacrifice  of  Christ,  the  whole  experience  of 
humiliation  and  suffering,  commencing  with  the 
laying  aside  of  the  glory  which  he  had  with  the 
Father  and  culminating  in  the  crucifixion,  was 
not  imposed  upon  him  by  any  one,  neither  by 
man,  nor  by  Satan,  nor  even  by  the  Father ;  it 
was  self-assumed.  This  fact  is  the  answer  to  all 
those  objections  to  the  N.  T.  doctrine  of  the 
atonement,  which  misrepresent  it  as  portraying 
a  God  who  inflicts  on  an  innocent  victim  the 
punishment  which  was  deserved  by  others. — 
I  have  power  to  lay  it  down  and  I  have 
power  to  take  it  again.  This  command- 
ment have  I  received  of  my  Father.  The 
word  rendered  power  {iiovntu),  includes  both 
power  and  right  (see  ch.  1  :  12,  note) ;  the  word  ren- 
dered commandment  {htol>]),  is  not  equivalent  to 
authority ;  the  original  word  always  means  Imv 
or  command.  Christ's  disciples  have  no  authority 
to  frame  self-sacrifices  for  themselves ;  doing 
this  is  always  characteristic  of  a  corrupt  and 
quasi  pagan  religion.  They  are  to  bear  with 
cheerful  heroism  whatever  self-sacrifice  the  provi- 
dence of  God  may  la)'  upon  them.  So  also  they 
have  never  a  right  to  seek  death,  but  are  always 
to  seek  to  live  to  the  glory  of  God  and  for  their 
fellow-men.  But  Christ  voluntarily  chose  his 
life  of  humiliation  and  cross-bearing ;  voluntarily 
sought  its  privations ;  and  finally  went,  not  to 
an  inevitable  death,  but  to  one  which  he  might 
easily  have  avoided  by  flight,  if  he  had  acted 
according  to  the  directions  which  he  gave  his 
followers,  and  on  which  the  apostle  subsequently 
acted.  He  might  have  fled  from  Jerusalem  on 
the  fatal  night  of  his  arrest,  as  he  had  done 
before,  and  this  without  leaving  his  sheep  to  be 
seized  or  scattered  by  the  wolf ;  or  he  might  have 
been  protected  by  supernatural  power  (Matt.  26 :  53). 
He  did  not  because  he  had  a  peculiar  authority 
given  to  him,  which  his  followers  do  not  possess, 
to  lay  down  his  own  life,  both  in  the  self-assumed 


humiliation  of  the  incarnation,  and  in  the  final 
tragedy  of  his  death.  And  this  peculiar  author- 
ity he  possessed  because  in  all  his  incarnation 
and  passion  and  death  he  was  carrying  out  the 
will  and  obeying  the  command  of  his  Father. 
To  us  the  divine  command  is  interpreted  by 
providence  ;  Christ  needed  no  such  interpreter, 
for  he  knew  the  Father's  will,  knowing  the 
Father  even  as  he  was  known  by  the  Father. 

19-21.  There  Avas  a  division  therefore 
again  among  the  Jews. — Christ's  fan  was  in 
his  hand.  His  teachings  were  tests  of  the  char- 
acter of  his  auditors. — He  hath  a  devil. 
Rather  an  evil  spirit  (see  ch.  a  -.  52,  note). — Why  hear 
ye  him  ?  Why  listen  to  him  at  all  ?  The  words 
were  addressed  by  the  opponents  of  Jesus  to 
those  who  were  inclined  to  believe  on  him,  and 
indicate  the  uneasiness  with  which  the  Pharisees 
observed  the  impression  which  Christ  was  making 
on  the  less  prejudiced  and  better  disposed  among 
the  people  (comp.  ch.  7 :  46-49). — Thcsc  are  not  the 
Avords  of  one  possessed  by  an  evil  spirit. 
A  pregnant  saying.  Infidelity  must  afford  some 
explanation  of  the  teachings  and  life  of  Christ ; 
and  they  are  not  the  teachings  and  life  of  either 
a  fanatic  or  a  deceiver. — Can  an  evil  spirit 
open  the  eyes  of  the  blind  ?  These  words 
show  that  the  whole  discourse  of  this  chapter 
was  not  distant  in  time  from  the  healing  of  the 
blind  man  narrated  in  Chapter  IX,  and  was 
probably  closely  connected  with  it. 


Ch.  10  :  22-42.  DISCOUESE  AT  THE  FEAST  OF  DEDI- 
CATION.— The  gift  of  Christ:  eternal  life.— The 
POWER  OP  Christ  :  the  power  op  the  Father. — 
The  contrast  between  the  O.  T.  prophets  and 
Christ. — The  evidence  of  Christ's  divinitt  ;  his 

WORKS. 

There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Christ 
left  Judea  during  the  time  which  elapsed  be- 
tween the  feast  of  Tabernacles  (ch.  7  :  2)  and 
the  feast  of  Dedication ;  on  the  contrary,  the 
intimate  connection  between  the  discourse  here 
reported  and  the  preceding  parable  of  the  Good 
Shepherd  (see  vers.  26, 27),  indicates  that  this  dis- 
course followed  almost  immediately  after  that 
one ;  certainly  while  the  latter  was  still  fresh  in 
the  minds  of  the  people.  I  believe  that  the 
ministry  in  Judea,  reported  in  John,  chapters  7, 
8,  9  and  10,  was  a  continuous  one,  unbroken  by 
any  departure  into  Galilee  or  Perea. 

22-24.  The  feast  of  the  Dedication.  A. 
Jewish  feast  instituted  by  Judas  Maccabeus,  in 


132 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  X. 


23  And  Jesus  walked  in  the  temple  in  Solomon's 
porch." 

24  Then  came  the  Jews  round  about  him,  and  said 
unto  him,  How  long  dost  thou  make  us  to  doubt  ?  If 
thou  be  the  Christ,  tell  us  plainly. 

25  Jesus  answered  them,  I  told  you,  and  ye  believed 
not ;  the>'  works  that  I  do  in  my  Father's  name,  they 
bear  witness  of  me. 


26  But'  ye  believe  not,  because  ye  are  not  of  my 
sheep,  as  I  said  unto  you. 

27  My  »  sheep  hear  my  voice,  and  I  know  them,  and 
they  follow  me : 

28  And  I  give  unto  them  eternal  life  ;  and  they""  shall 
never  perish,  neither  shall  any  tnan  pluck  them  out  of 
my  hand. 


X  Acts  3  :  II  ;  5  :  12 y  ch.  5  : ; 


;  ch.  8  :  47 a  verse  4 b  ch.  17  :  12  ;  18  :  9. 


commemoration  of  the  cleansing  of  the  second 
temple  and  altar,  after  they  had  been  polluted 
by  Antiochus  Epiphanes.  The  profanation  took 
place  B.  c.  167,  the  purification  b.  c.  164.  The 
festival  commenced  on  the  25th  day  of  the  ninth 
month,  Kislev,  answering  to  our  December,  and 
lasted  eight  days.  It  was  also  called  the  feast  of 
Lights,  from  the  fact  that  the  Jews  illuminated 
their  houses  as  long  as  the  feast  lasted.  Insti- 
tuted by  the  Maccabean  dynasty,  and  observed 
chiefly  by  the  more  rigid  Judeans,  it  afforded  to 
Christ  an  audience  only  of  the  more  narrow- 
minded  and  bigoted  of  the  Jews,  a  fact  which 
must  be  borne  in  mind  in  studying  his  teaching 
on  this  occasion. — It  was  winter.  The  fact 
is  stated  to  explain  our  Lord's  walking  in  Solo- 
mon's portico.  For  description  and  illustration 
of  this  portico,  see  Acts  5  :  13,  note.  This  minute 
detail,  the  exact  locality  where  he  gave  this 
instruction,  is  one  of  the  many  indications  which 
this  Gospel  affords  of  being  written  by  an 
eye-witness. — The  Judeans  therefore  sur- 
rounded him.  The  verb  (y.vxlo^ti)  is  generally 
used  in  a  hostile  sense,  e.  g.,  of  armies  encom- 
passing   a    city    (Luke  21  :  20;    Heb.  11  :  30 ;    Rev.  20  :  s). 

This  is  the  meaning  here  ;  an  excited  and  threat- 
ening crowd  hedged  about  Jesus  as  he  was  quietly 
walking  in  the  porch.  "Their  fixed  design  was, 
not  to  leave  him  at  liberty  till  he  should  have 
uttered  the  decisive  word." — {Godet.)  This  was 
the  earliest  manifestation  of  that  design  which  was 
finally  accomplished  when  the  oath  was  adminis- 
tered to  Jesus  by  the  High  Priest,  and  he  was 
adjured  to  say  whether  he  was  the  Son  of  God 

(Matt.  26  :  63,  note). — HoW    iong    dOSt   thOU    keep 

our  souls  in  suspense  ?  This  English  idiom 
almost  literally  answers  to  the  Greek  idiom  (ri)v 
■il.ivy.iiv  aiQttg),  which  is  still  more  exactly,  Sow 
long  dost  thou  keep  our  souls  lifted  up?  i.  e.,  with 
expectation  and  uncertainty.  Commingled  and 
contradictory  feelings  in  the  crowd  were  proba- 
bly represented  by  this  question ;  some  hoped 
that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah  and  desired  to  com- 
pel him  to  declare  himself ;  others  were  enraged 
with  him,  and  desired  to  extort  some  utterance 
which  would  give  them  the  opportunity  to  con- 
demn him  for  blasphemy,  or  to  excite  the  mob 
against  him. 

25-27.  I  told  you  *  *  *  the  works  *  *  * 
bear  witness  of  me.  He  had  told  them 
(ch.  6 :  19 ;  8 :  36, 66,  s8,  etc.),  not  it  is  true  as  plainly  as 


he  had  told  the  Samaritan  woman  (ch.  4 :  26),  but 
more  plainly  than  he  had  told  his  own  disciples 
previous  to  Peter's  confession  of  faith,  "Thou 
art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God  "  (Matt. 
16 :  16) ;  and  he  now  answers  them  as  he  answered 
John  the  Baptist,  who,  in  a  very  different  spirit, 
preferred  the  same  request  for  a  definite  answer 
to    the    question,    "Art  thou    He  that  should 
come?"   (Matt.  II  :  2-6.)     He    refers  them  to  his 
works.     The  evidence  of  Christ's  divinity  is  not  in 
his  declaration  about  himself,  nor  in  the  declara- 
tions made  concerning  him  by  others,  but  in  his 
life,  his  character,  and  the  work  which  he  has 
done  and  is  still  doing  in  the  world.    Works  {(Qya) 
includes  his  miracles  but  is  not  equivalent  to 
miracles.     See  ch.  14  :  12,  note.    The  reason  why 
he  did  not  answer  more  directly  is  well  given  by 
Godet:  "He  could  not  answer  'I  am,'  for  the 
meaning  which  they  attached  to  the  word  Christ 
had,  so  to  speak,  nothing  in  common  with  that 
in  which  he  used  it.     Still  less  could  he  reply,  '  I 
am  not ; '  for  he  was  indeed  the  Christ  provided 
by  God,  and  in  that  sense  he  whom  they  ex- 
pected."— Because  ye  are  not  of  my  sheep, 
as  I  said  to  you.    The  reference  is  either  to 
the  implied  teaching  of  the  parable  of  the  Good 
Shepherd,   or  to  some    specific    statement  not 
reported  by  the  Evangelist.     The  genuineness 
of  the  words  as  I  said  to  you  is  doubted  by  some, 
but  they  are  regarded  as    authentic    by  most 
critics.     What  does  he  mean  by  ye  are  not  of  my 
sJiee]).    If  we  look  back  we  shall   see  that  the 
sheep  of  Christ  are  those  that  hear  (1  e.,  accept 
and  obey)  his  voice,  and  follow  him  (i.  e.,  imitate 
his  life  and  example).     See  verses  3,  4,  14,  16,  27. 
The  declaration,  then,    Te  belieim  not  because  ye 
are  not  of  my  sheep,  is  that  those  who  do  not 
spiritually  recognize  the  beauty  of  Christ's  teach- 
ing, and  do  not  attempt  to  follow  his  incom- 
parable example,  are  not  to  be  expected  to  be 
convinced  of  his  divinity  by  purely  intellectual 
arguments.     The  answer  to  the  skeptic  is  gen- 
erally. You  cannot  believe  in  Christ  as  your  per- 
sonal Saviour  till  you  begin  to  recognize  and  to 
follow  his  teaching  and  example  as  a  prophet 
and  a  man.     The  declaration  is  the  converse  of 
John  7  :  17.     Comp.  2  Peter  1  :  .5-8,   where  the 
possession  of  the  Christian  virtues  is  declared  to 
be  the  eflScient  cause  of  a  sound  Christian  knowl- 
edge.   The  creed  does  not  precede  but  follows 
spiritual  life. 


Ch.  X.] 


JOHN. 


133 


29  My"=  Father,  which  gave""  tkem  me,  is  greater 
than  all ;  and  no  man  is  able  to  pluck  tkem  out  of  my 
Father's  hand. 

30  I  "^  and  my  Father  are  one. 

31  Then'  the  Jews  took  up  stones  again  to  stone  him. 

32  Jesus  answered  them.  Many  good  works  have  I 
shewed  you  from  my  Father  ;  for  u-hich  of  those  works 
do  ye  stone  me  ? 

33  The  Jews  answered  him,  saying,  For  a  good  work 


we  stone  thee  not;  but  for  blasphemy;  and  because* 
that  thou,  being  a  man,  makest  thyself  God. 

34  Jesus  answered  them,  Is  it  not  written  in  your 
law,  1  said,  Ye  are  gods  ? 

35  If  he  called  them  gods,  unto  whom  the  word  of 
God  came,  and  the  scripture  cannot  be  broken ; 

36  Say  ye  of  him,  whom  the  Father  hath  sanctified,'' 
and  sent  into  the  world.  Thou  blasphemest ;  because  I 
said,  I  am '  the  Son  of  God  ? 


.d  ch.  17  :  2... 


ch.  17  :  II,  23 f  ch.  8  :  69 g  verse  30;  ch.  6  :  18 ;  Ps.  82  :  6;  Rom.  13 

Isa.  11  :  J,  3;  49  :  1,3....1  Phil.  2  :  6. 


l....h  ch.  6  :  27; 


28-30.   And  I  give   unto  them   eternal 
life.     Life  is  the  gift  of  God  through  Jesus 

Christ  (ch.  I  :  12  ;   4  :  10,  14 ;  6  :  27,  32,  51  ;  Rom.  5  :  17  j  6  :  23  ; 

Eph.  1 :  n),  but  the  necessary  condition  of  receiving 
it  is  faith  in  his  Son,  i.  e.,  the  ability  to  appre- 
ciate spiritual  life  in  its  highest  and  most  per- 
fect manifestation,  and  a  readiness  to  follow 
after  it,  by  leaving  all  things  else  to  attain  it,  as 
did  Paul  (phu.  3  :  13,  14). — And  they  shall  never 
perish,  neither  shall  any  pluck  them  out 
of  my  hand.  The  word  rendered  2Jerish  is 
literally  destroy  themselves  (uTtdf.wytai,  middle 
voice) ;  and  this  seems  to  me  to  be  the  meaning 
here  ;  otherwise  there  would  be  a  repetition,  the 
second  clause  of  the  promise  only  reiterating  the 
first  clause.  The  word  tnati  is  not  in  the  original ; 
a7iy  includes  all  powers,  human  and  superhuman. 
I,  then,  understand  Christ's  declaration  to  be 
that  the  souls  which  trust  in  him  shall  never 
destroy  themselves,  and  no  one  shall  pluck  them,  out 
of  his  hand;  i.  e.,  he  promises  to  protect  his  dis- 
ciples both  against  their  own  weaknesses  and 
also  against  the  strength  of  assailants ;  from 
f L-ars  without  and  foes  within ;  from  treachery 
in  the  soul,  and  from  assaults  on  the  soul.  See 
1  Cor.  10  :  13  ;  15  :  10  ;  PhU.  4  :  19  ;  Col.  1 :  11,  etc. 
— My  Father  which  gave  them  to  me,  is 
greater  than  all.  There  is  some  uncertainty 
as  to  the  reading,  but  the  best  critics  agree  in 
sustaining  the  received  text. — No  one  is  able 
to  pluck  them  out  of  my  Father's  hand. 
I  and  my  Father  are  one.  Without  enter- 
ing into  any  doubtful  disputations  respecting 
the  relation  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  a  problem 
which  I  believe  transcends  human  knowledge, 
it  is  evident  that  the  connection  here  requires  us 
to  understand  Christ  as  declaring  himself  one 
with  the  Father,  not  merely  in  wiU  or  desire,  as 
the  disciple  is  to  be  one  with  his  Lord,  but  also 
in  spiritual  power.  The  argument  is,  "  My  sheep 
shall  never  perish,  since  my  Father  who  gave 
them  into  my  hand  is  greater  than  all,  and  I  who 
hold  them,  am  one  with  him."  This  argument 
would  be  without  force  if  the  meaning  was  not 
that  Christ's  power  is  equal  to  that  of  the  Father. 
His  will  might  be  perfectly  in  harmony  with  the 
divine  will,  he  still  could  not  be  trusted  as  a 
divine  Saviour  unless  his  power  was  commen- 
surate with  his  will.  So  all  the  best  expositors, 
Alford,  Godet,  Meyer,  Luthardt,  Tholuck. 


31-33.  The  moral  power  of  Christ  is  singu- 
larly illustrated  by  the  manner  in  which  he  re- 
strains the  mob  by  his  voice  and  compels  them 
to  answer  his  question.  That  question  implies 
that  punishment  is  due  only  to  wrong  actors, 
and  he  asks  them  before  they  execute  sentence, 
to  designate  any  wrong  that  he  has  done.  The 
question  is  thus  analogous  to  that  of  ch.  8  :  46, 
"Which  of  you  convinceth  me  of  sin."  Blas- 
phemy was  a  regularly  recognized  crime  under 
Je%vish  law ;  it  consisted  in  any  endeavor  to  draw 
away  the  allegiance  of  the  people  from  the  one 
true  God,  and  answered  to  treason  with  us, 
Jehovah  being  under  the  theocracy,  the  Supreme 
head  of  the  nation  (see  Matt.  12 :  32,  note).  The  reply 
of  the  Jews  to  Christ's  question  plainly  shows 
how  they  regarded  his  declaration,  "I  and  my 
Father  are  one,"  not  as  indicating  mere  unity  in 
spirit  and  purpose,  but  also  in  power  and  essen- 
tial being.  This  is  not  indeed  conclusive,  for  the 
Jews  constantly  misunderstood  Christ ;  but  it  is 
an  indication  of  his  meaning.  One  practical 
lesson  of  the  unity  of  the  Godhead,  of  Christ  and 
the  Spirit  with  the  Father,  is  eloquently  pre- 
sented by  Maurice  :  "The  unity  of  the  Father 
and  the  Son  is  the  only  ground  of  the  unity  be- 
tween the  Shepherd  and  the  sheep ;  undermine 
one  and  5-ou  undermine  both  *  *  *  *.  Do  you 
think  sects  would  last  even  for  an  hour,  If  there 
was  not  in  the  heart  of  each  of  them  a  witness 
for  a  fellowship  which  combinations  and  shib- 
boleths did  not  create,  and  which,  thanks  be  to 
God,  they  cannot  destroy.  The  Shepherd  makes 
his  voice  to  be  heard  through  all  the  noise  and 
clatter  of  earthly  shepherds ;  the  sheep  hear  his 
voice  and  know  that  it  is  calling  them  to  follow 
him  into  a  common  fold  where  all  may  rest  and 
dwell  together ;  and  when  once  they  understand 
the  still  deeper  message  which  he  is  uttering 
here,  and  which  the  old  creeds  are  repeating  to 
us,  '  I  and  my  Father  are  one  ; '  when  they  un- 
derstand that  the  unity  of  the  church  and  the 
unity  of  mankind  depends  on  this  eternal  dis- 
tinction and  unity  in  God  himself,  and  not  upon 
authority  or  decrees  of  any  mortal  pastor,  the 
sects  will  crumble  to  pieces,  and  there  will  be  in 
very  deed,  one  flock  and  one  Shepherd." 

34-36.  Is  it  not  written  in  your  law. 
He  does  not  say  in  our  law,  nor  in  the  law,  but  in 
your  law.     Christ  does  not  identify  himself  with 


134 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  X. 


37  If  J  I  do  not  the  works  of  my  Father,  believe  |  works :  that  ye  may  know,  and  believe,  that  the  Father 
jne  not.  is  in  me,  and  I  in  him. 

38  But  if  I  do,  though  ye  believe  not  me,  believe  the         39  Therefore  they  sought  again  to  take  him  :  but  he 

escaped  out  of  their  hand; 


j  ch.  14  :  10,  11 ;  15  :  24. 


the  Jews,  nor  regard  himself  as  subject  to  the 
law,  though  made  under  it,  and  yielding  himself 
to  it  for  a  season.  Comp.  ch.  7  :  19 ;  8  :  17.  The 
reference  is  to  Psalm  82  : 6.  There  is  no  passage 
in  the  law,  l.  e.,  in  the  Pentateuch,  which  cor- 
responds exactly  to  Christ's  words  here,  or  to 
those  of  the  Psalmist ;  but  in  Exodus  23  :  28,  the 
title  of  "gods"  is  given  to  the  judges.  The 
Psalm  in  question  is  believed  to  have  been  writ- 
ten on  the  occasion  of  Jehosaphat's  reform  of  the 
courts  and  re-establishment  of  the  law  (2  chron., 
<h.  19),  and  it  contrasts  the  unjust  judges  of 
Israel,  who  had  been  called  gods  in  the  law, 
with  God  the  Judge  of  aU  the  earth. — Unto 
whom  the  word  of  God  came.  ITte  word 
of  God  is  not  the  mere  saying,  "I  have  said  ye 
are  gods  "  {Meyer) ;  it  is  never  used  in  the  N.  T. 
in  so  limited  a  sense,  to  signify  merely  a  particu- 
lar phrase  or  utterance.  It  is  either.  The  Spirit 
of  God,  i.  e.,  God  revealing  himself  to  and 
through  the  prophet,  as  in  ch.  1  :  1  (see  note 
there)  and  Heb.  4  :  12  ;  or  it  is  the  word  given  to 
the  prophets  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  by  them 
repeated  to  the  nation,  i.  e.,  nearly  equivalent  to 
the  O.  T.  Scripture,  as  in  Mark  7  :  13  ;  Luke  5 : 1, 
etc. — And  the  Scripture  cannot  be  broken. 
Literally  loosened  (Matt.  5 :  19,  note).  This  paren- 
thetical declaration  is  a  very  significant  testi- 
mony to  the  inspiration  of  the  O.  T. — Whom 
the  Father  hath  sanctified.  The  original 
(ayiu^uj)  may  be  rendered  either  made  holy,  in 
the  sense  of  made  clean  and  pure  in  character, 
or  made  holy  in  the  sense  of  set  apart  to  a  holj' 
use.  It  is  evidently  in  the  latter  sense  that  it  is 
employed  here. — And  sent  into  the  world. 
The  sanctifying  of  Christ  preceded  the  sending 
into  the  world.  Evidently,  therefore,  the  refer- 
ence is  not  to  any  act  recorded  in  the  life  of 
Christ,  as  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  at  the 
baptism,  but  to  a  consecration  in  the  will  of  God 
to  the  work  of  redemption,  and  which  preceded 
the  Advent. — Thou  blasphemest.  That  is, 
art  guilty  of  diverting  the  allegiance  of  the  peo- 
ple from  God  to  thyself. — Because  I  said  I 
am  a  Son  of  God.  The  article  is  wanting 
in  the  Greek,  and  ought  not  to  be  added  in  the 
translation. 

These  verses  (3i-o6)  have  been  sometimes  re- 
garded as  a  partial  retraction,  or  at  least  a  mate- 
rial modification  of  the  declaration,  "I  and  my 
Father  are  one  ;  "  as  indicating  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  a  Son  of  God  only  as  every  obedient  soul  is  a 
child  of  God  (1  John  3 :  1).  If  this  passage  stood 
alone,  such  an  interpretation  might  possibly  be 


given  to  it ;  but  if  the  audience,  the  circum- 
stances, the  effect,  and  the  other  utterances  of 
the  speaker  be  taken  into  account,  it  cannot  be 
fairly  so  understood.  This  sentence  is  spoken  to 
a  mob  for  the  purpose  of  checking  their  rage. 
They  have  understood  Christ  to  claim  divinity. 
He  does  not  in  terms  explicitly  disavow  it.  On 
the  contrary,  when  his  explanation  is  ended,  they 
resume  their  design  (ver.  39),  and  he  is  obliged  to 
flee  for  his  life.  We  should  not  look  in  such  an 
utterance  for  a  disclosure  of  the  profoundest 
truths  respecting  Christ's  character,  not  because 
Christ  would  conceal  or  modify  the  truth  to  save 
his  life,  but  because  an  angry  mob  is  not  the  sort 
of  an  audience  to  whom  he  would  choose  to 
reveal  it,  or  indeed  could  reveal  it,  a  certain  re- 
ceptiveness  of  soul  being  necessary  to  the  com- 
prehension of  spiritual  truth.  The  argument  of 
these  verses  seems  to  me  to  be  this :  He  to 
whom  the  Spirit  of  God  comes,  and  who  receives 
it  and  becomes  in  so  far  an  exponent  and  mani- 
festation of  God,  is  in  a  sense  divine  ;  he  becomes 
partaker  of  the  divine  nature ;  a  sharer  of  the 

divine    life  (Rom.  8  :  29  ;   Heb.  12  :  10;    2  Pet.  1  :  4).      ThiS 

is  the  testimony  of  the  Scriptures  which  cannot 
be  set  aside.  He,  then,  who  is  not  of  this  world 
but  from  above  (ch.  8 :  23),  and  whom  the  Father 
consecrated  above  and  sent  down  into  this  world, 
is  not  guilty  of  blasphemy  in  calling  himself  a 
Son  of  God.  In  other  words,  Christ  compares 
himself  with  inspired  men  only  to  contrast  him- 
self with  them ;  he  shows  that,  even  according 
to  the  principles  of  the  Q.  T.  Scriptures,  by 
which  the  Jews  pretended  to  condemn  him,  he 
was  not  guilty  of  blasphemy,  even  if,  being  but 
a  man,  he  had  made  himself  a  son  and  so  a  repre- 
sentative of  God,  while  he,  at  the  same  time, 
clearly  claims  to  be  other  and  higher  than  the 
O.  T.  prophets  and  judges.  But  for  the  fuU  dis- 
closure of  Christ's  character,  we  must  look  to 
his  quiet  conferences  with  his  own  disciples,  who 
were  at  least  willing,  if  not  able,  to  understand 
him. 

37,  38.  If  I  do  not  the  works  of  my 
Father,  put  no  faith  in  me.  Works  which 
show  forth  his  power  and  glory  and  are  in  accord- 
ance with  his  will  and  character  (ch.  n  :  4). — But 
if  I  do,  thous^h  ye  put  no  faith  in  me, 
put  faith  in  the  works.  Beware  of  under- 
standing faith,  rendered  in  our  English  version 
by  believe,  as  a  mere  intellectual  act.  The  idea 
is,  If  prejudice  against  the  person  of  Christ  pre- 
vents an  affectionate  regard  for  him,  the  soul 
may  still  have  respect  and  reverence  for  the 


Ch.  XL] 


JOHN. 


135 


40  And  went  away  again  beyond  Jordan  into  the 
place''  where  John  at  first  baptized:  and  there  he 
abode. 


41  And  many  resorted  unto  him,  and  said,  John  did 
no  miracle  :  but  all  things  that  John  spake'  of  this  man 
were  true. 

42  And  many  believed  on  him  there. 


k  ch.  1  :  28 I  ch.  3  :  30-36  ;  Matt.  3:11,  12. 


work  he  has  done,  and  is  doing  in  the  world. 
That  ye  may  perceive  and  know  (yi  cJrt  xui 
yivdiaxrite)  is  the  best  reading. — Alford,  Meyer.  To 
perceive,  or  recognize,  denotes  the  outward  act ;  to 
ktiow  denotes  the  permanent  state. — That  the 
Father  is  in  me  and  I  in  the  Father,  A 
spiritual  unity,  such  as  cannot  be  predicated  of 
any  other  son  of  God.  The  Father  is  in  the 
Son  because  he  lives  and  moves  in  him ;  is  the 
spirit  which  animates  and  controls  and  makes 
divine  the  man  Jesus.  The  Son  is  in  the  Father 
because  his  thoughts,  wishes,  purposes,  desires, 
all  centre  in  Him.  The  argument  of  these  verses 
is  substantially  the  same  as  that  addressed  by 
Christ  to  the  Jews  in  verse  35  (see  note  there), 
and  that  addressed  to  his  own  disciples  in 
ch.  14  :  11.  The  best  evidence  of  the  divinity 
of  Christ  is  his  own  character ;  next  is  a  con- 
sideration of  the  divine  work  which  he  has  done 
and  is  doing  in  the  world. 

39-43.  They  sought  again  to  take  him. 
To  arrest  him.  Their  passion  had  time  to  cool, 
and  they  abandoned  the  idea  of  mob  violence, 
which  would  have  brought,  as  in  Paul's  case 
(Acts  21  :  31, 32),  the  interference  of  the  Romans. 
Instead,  they  endeavored  to  seize  Christ  and 
bring  him  before  the  authorities  for  trial. — But 
he  escaped  out  of  their  hand.  There  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  a  miracle.  In  the  throng 
were  some  at  least  who  believed  in  him,  and 
under  cover  afforded  by  them  he  could  have 
escaped.  Where  John  at  first  baptized. 
See  ch.  1  :  28,  note. — Ail  things  that  John 
spake  of  this  man  were  true.  Being  dead 
he  yet  spake.  Gave  his  testimony  to  Christ.  See 
ch.  1 :  15-34.  This  was  the  end  of  Christ's  Judean 
ministry  proper,  which  had  lasted  three  months. 
It  had  been  one  of  continuous  storm.  Twice 
during  this  period  he  had  been  mobbed  (ch.  s  :  59; 
10  :  31) ;  once  an  attempt  was  made  to  arrest  him 
(ch.  7 :  32, 45) ;  sccrct  plans  for  his  assassination 
■were  laid  (ch.  t  :  19,  25 ;  8 :  37).  AU  that  we  know 
of  this  ministry  is  contained  in  John,  chapters  7, 
8,  9  and  10 ;  though  it  is  not  improbable  that  the 
parables  of  the  Good  Samaritan  and  the  Pharisee 
and  the  Publican,  and  the  incidents  at  the  house 
of  Mary  and  Martha  belong  to  the  same  era 
(Luke  10 :  25-42 ;  18 : 9-u). — Aud  many  believed 
on  him  there.  A  period  of  a  little  over  three 
months,  from  some  time  in  December  to  the 
first  of  April,  intervened  between  the  retreat  of 
Christ  from  Judea  aud  his  final  entry  into  Jeru- 
salem at  the  Passover  week.    I  believe  that  this 


time  was  devoted  to  his  ministry  in  Perea,  the 
district  beyond  Jordan ;  a  ministry  of  which 
John  here  gives  a  hint,  to  which  Matthew  and 

Mark   also    refer    (Matt.    19  :  1,  2,  etc;    Mark  10  :  1,  etc.), 

but  of  which  Luke  alone  gives  any  full  account. 
See  Luke,  ch.  10,  Prel.  Note.     Many  thronged  his 

ministry    there    (Luke  11  :  29;    12  :  l;    14  :  15,  25;   15  :  1). 

This  ministry  was  broken  in  upon  by  the  message 
from  the  sisters  of  Lazarus,  as  recorded  in  the 
next  chapter.    See  Prel.  Note  there. 


Ch.  11  :  1-44.   THE  RESURRECTION  OF  LAZARUS.— 
The  DrviNE  object  dj  all  seeming  evil  :  not  human 

DEATH  BUT  divine  GLORT  (4).— ThE  MYSTERY  OP 
THE  DIVINE  SILENCE  IN  OUR  SORROW  ILLUSTRATED  AND 
PARTIALLY   INTERPRETED  (6,  12). — ThE  CONDITIONS  OP 

divine  protection  and  the  christian's  safety 
(9,  10).— The  Christian's  death  a  sleep  (11). — 
The  anguish  of  "  if  "  (21,  32). — The  Pharisaic 
creed  and  the  christian's  faith  concerning 
death  and  the  resurrection  contrasted  (23-27). — 
Christ's  indignation  at  human  falsehood  (33,  38). 
—Christ's  sympathy  with  human  sorrow  (.35). — 
The  resistance  op  faithlessness  ;  the  obedience 
OP  faith  (39,  41).— The  prayer  op  assurance  op 
faith  (42).— The  Kesurrection  and  the  Life  (43, 
44).— a  parable  of  human  sorrow  and  divine 
comfort. — a  parable  op  human  sin  and  divine 
REDEMPTION.    See  Supplementary  Note. 

Preliminary  Note. — There  is  nothing  in  John 
to  indicate  the  time  at  which  this  miracle  took 
place  ;  and  there  is  no  general  agreement  among 
harmonists  respecting  it.  Robinson  places  it  im- 
mediately at  the  close  of  Christ's  Judean  ministry 
and  prior  to  his  ministry  in  Perea ;  Andrews  and 
EUicott  place  it  at  the  close  of  the  Perean  minis- 
try and  immediately  preceding  the  Passion  week. 
The  reasons  for  so  doing  are  :  (1)  It  seems  the 
immediate  occasion  both  of  the  triumphal  pro- 
cession accorded  to  Jesus  by  the  spontaneous 
action  of  the  common  people,  and  of  the  more 
deliberate  determination  on  the  part  of  the  eccle- 
siastics of  Jerusalem  to  put  him  to  death.  It 
does  not  seem  reasonable,  therefore,  to  suppose 
that  a  long  period  of  active  service  in  another 
part  of  the  Holy  Land  intervened  between  this 
the  greatest  miracle  wrought  by  Christ  and 
the  effects  which  it  produced,  both  upon  the 
church  party  and  upon  the  common  people. 
(3)  Immediately  after  this  miracle,  and  ui  conse- 
quence of  the  excitemi'ut  produced  by  it,  Christ 
retired  into  the  wilderness,  and  is  said  by  John 
to  have  contmued  there  with  his  disciples  ;  and 


136 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XI. 


N 


CHAPTER  XI. 

OVV  a  certain  7nan  was  sick,  named  Lazarus,  of 
Bethany,  tlie  town  of""  Mary  and  her  sister  Martha. 


2  (It  was  that  Mary  which  "  anointed  the  Lord  with 
ointment,  and  wiped  his  feet  with  her  liair,  whose 
brother  Lazarus  was  sick.) 

3  Therefore  his  sisters  sent  unto  him,  saying,  Lord, 
behold,  he  °  whom  thou  lovest  is  sick. 


Luke  10  :  38,  39  . . . .  n  ch.  12  .  3  ;  Mark  14  :  3  ....  o  Heb.  12:6;  Rev.  3  :  19. 


the  implication  is  that  he  remained  in  this  retire- 
ment until  after  the  Passover  (vers.  54, 55).  To  sup- 
pose that  the  Perean  ministry,  which  lasted 
something  like  three  months,  was  interjected 
into  this  period  of  retirement,  which  is  Kobin- 
son's  supposition,  breaks  into  the  continuity  of 
John's  narrative,  and  does  violence  to  its  order 
and  symmetry,  without  any  adequate  reason. 
(3)  Jesus  was  at  a  considerable  distance  from 
Betliany  at  the  time  when  Lazarus  was  taken 
sick.  The  sisters  sent  unto  him  at  once  ;  after 
receiving  their  message,  he  remained  where  he 
was  two  days ;  but  when  he  reached  Bethany, 
Lazarus  had  been  four  days  dead  (comp.  vers,  g  and  39). 
Presumptively,  therefore,  he  was  at  least  one 
day's  journey  from  Bethany,  even  if  we  assume 
that  Lazarus  had  died  before  the  messengers  had 
reached  Jesus ;  more  probably  he  was  two  days' 
journey  distant,  for  verse  11  indicates  that  the 
death  of  Lazarus  took  place  after  Jesus  had 
received  word  of  his  sickness.  Thus  the  narra- 
tive of  this  miracle  tallies  with  the  supposition 
that  Christ  was  carrying  on  his  ministry  in  the 
region  beyond  the  Jordan,  rather  than  with  the 
supposition  that  he  was  anywhere  in  Judea  ;  the 
more  so  that  we  have  no  intimation  in  the  Gos- 
pels of  any  ministry  in  Judea  except  in  and 
about  Jerusalem,  of  which  Bethany  was  practi- 
cally a  suburb.  (4)  In  Luke  13  :  83,  Christ  uses 
the  following  language:  "Behold  I  cast  out 
devils  and  I  do  cures  to-day  and  to-morrow,  and 
the  third  day  I  shall  be  perfected."  This  occurs 
in  the  Perean  ministry,  and  the  "  two  days  "  here 
referred  to,  have  been  hypothetically  identified 
with  the  "two  days  "  during  which,  according  to 
John's  narrative  here,  Jesus  tarried  where  he  was 
after  receiving  the  message  of  Lazarus's  sickness. 
The  coincidence  between  the  two  passages  is  at 
least  curious,  though  it  may  be  nothing  more 
than  a  coincidence.  These  reasons  make  the 
chronology  of  Andrews  and  Ellicott  more  proba- 
ble than  that  of  Robinson.  I  believe,  then,  that 
the  resurrection  of  Lazarus  took  place  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  February  or  the  early  part  of  March 
A.  D.  30,  and  that  it  was  followed,  after  the  brief 
retirement  at  Ephraim,  by  the  triumphal  march  of 
Christ  and  his  disciples  up  to  Jerusalem,  and  by 
his  Passion  and  his  death  there.  See  Tab.  Har.., 
Vol.  I,  p.  4.5 ;  for  some  general  considerations 
respecting  this  miracle,  see  Sup.  Note,  ver.  44. 

1,2.  Now  a  certain  one  was  sick  named 
Lazarus.  The  only  historic  person  of  this 
name  mentioned  in  the  Bible;  the  indications 


are  that  he  was  a  younger  brother.  From  the 
incident  in  Luke  10  :  38-42,  we  judge  that  Martha 
was  the  head  of  the  household.  Simon,  proba- 
bly the  father,  though  possibly  the  husband  of 
one  of  the  sisters,  was  a  leper ;  he  had  probably 
died  or  been  banished  by  the  law,  because  of  his 
leprosy  (Matt.  26 :  e).  The  family  appear  to  have 
been  one  of  wealth  and  social  distinction ;  this 
is  indicated  by  the  facts  that  they  owned  their 
house,  had  their  tomb  in  their  garden,  and  were 
able  to  give  three  hundred  dollars  worth  of  oint- 
ment as  a  costly  token  of  honor  to  Jesus  (john 
12 :  s).  I  say  three  hundred  dollars  worth  because 
the  penny,  or  denarius,  was  a  day's  wages,  and 
therefore  equivalent  to  our  dollar.  How  and 
where  the  household  first  became  acquainted 
with  Jesus,  we  do  not  know.  An  ingenious 
writer  in  Small's  Bible  Dictionary  endeavors  to 
identify  Lazarus  with  the  rich  young  ruler  who 
had  great  possessions,  and  went  away  from 
Christ  sorrowful  because  he  was  bid  to  sell  all 
that  he  had  to  give  to  the  poor  (Matt.  19 :  16-22) ; 
but  this  ingenious  hypothesis  has  only  its  inge- 
nuity to  commend  it.  Of  Lazarus's  life  after  his 
resurrection,  nothing  whatever  is  known ;  there 
are  traditions  respecting  him,  and  his  bones 
were  discovered  by  some  of  the  credulous  relic- 
worshippers  of  the  ninth  century  in  the  island  of 
Cyprus ;  but  the  traditions  are  as  little  to  be 
trusted  as  the  relics. — Of  Bethany.  This  vil- 
lage lies  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  less  than  two  miles  (ver.  is,  note)  southeast 
of  Jerusalem.  See  for  description  and  illustra- 
tion, ch.  13  :  1,  3,  note.  Its  present  name  is 
El-Azarieh,  derived  from,  and  memoralizing  the 
resurrection  of  Lazarus.  Of  course,  the  house 
of  Simon  and  of  Lazarus,  and  the  tomb  of  the 
latter  are  pointed  out  to  the  traveler  by  the 
accommodating  monks,  and  of  course,  nothing 
is  known  about  either  of  these  sites,  except  that 
tbe  tomb  cannot  possibly  be  the  real  one.  It  is 
a  deep  vault  partly  lined  with  masonry,  entered 
upon  by  a  long,  winding,  half-ruined  staircase ; 
the  masonry  is  comparatively  modern,  and  the 
situation  of  the  tomb  in  the  centre  of  the  village 
is  inconsistent  with  the  Gospel  narrative  ;  the 
genuineness  of  the  site  is  repudiated  by  Por- 
ter, Robinson,  Thompson,  and  defended  by  no 
scholar.— The  town  of  Mary  and  her  sister 
Martha.  It  is  so  characterized  because  their 
home  served  as  a  retreat  to  Jesus  during  his 
ministry  in  Jerusalem,  and  it  is  thus  distinguished 
from  the  Bethany  beyond  the  Jordan  mentioned 


Ch.  XL] 


JOHN. 


137 


4  When  Jesus  heard  that,  he  said,  This  sickness  is 
not  unto  death,  butf  tor  the  glory  of  God,  that  the  Son 
of  God  mi^ht  be  glorified  thereby. 

5  Now  Jesus  loved  Martha,  and  her  sister,  and 
Lazarus. 

6  When  he  had  heard  therefore  that  he  was  sick,  he 
abode  two  days  still  in  the  same  place  where  he  was. 

7  Then  after  that  saith  he  to  his  disciples.  Let  us  go 
into  Judaea  again. 


8  His  disciples  say  unto  him,  Master,  the  Jews  of 
latet  sought  to  stone  thee;  and  goest  thou  thither 
again  ? ' 

9  Jesus  answered.  Are  there  not  twelve  hours  in 
the  day  ?  If"  any  man  walk  in  the  day,  he  stumbleth 
not,  because  he  seeth  the  light  ot  this  world. 

10  But  if  a  man  walk  in  the  night,'  he  stumbleth,  be- 
cause there  is  no  light  in  him. 


p  verse  40 ;  ch.  9  :  3. . . .  q  ch.  10  :  31 r  Acts  20  :  24  . .  .  .  s  cb.  12  :  S5  .  .  .  .  t  Eccles.  2  :  14. 


in  ch.  1  :  28,  note.  There  is  no  reason  whatever 
for  identifying  this  Mary  with  Mary  Magdalene 
or  with  tlie  "woman  which  was  a  sinner,"  or 
the  anointing  referred  to  here  and  described  in 
ch.  13  : 1-8  with  the  anointing  performed  by  that 
unnamed  woman  and  described  in  Luke  7  :  36-50 ; 
see  note  there.  The  designation  of  Bethany  as  the 
town  of  Mary  and  her  sister  Martha,  whom  John 
has  not  before  mentioned,  as  well  as  his  incidental 
reference  in  the  parenthetical  sentence  following, 
to  the  anointing  of  the  Lord  by  Mary,  are  indica- 
tions that  John  wrote  not  only  with  a  knowledge 
of  the  other  Gospels,  or  at  least  with  the  main 
facts,  incidents,  and  characters  described  in  the 
other  Gospels,  but  also  with  the  assurance  that 
they  were  familiar  to  most  of  his  readers.  The 
fact  that  Mary's  name  is  mentioned  first,  would, 
taken  by  itself,  imply  that  she  was  the  elder 
sister,  and  the  head  of  the  household ;  but  the 
fact  that  Martha  took  the  responsibility  of  pro- 
viding for  the  guests  in  the  two  instances  re- 
corded in  Luke  10  :  38-42  and  John  12  : 1-8,  indi- 
cates that  Martha  Avas  the  elder  sister  and  the 
housekeeper. 

3,  4.  Lord,  behold  whom  thou  lovest 
is  fsick.  They  have  complete  confidence  in  the 
sympathy  of  their  Lord ;  they  do  not  urge  him 
to  come  ;  they  do  not  present  any  petition  ;  they 
simply  report  their  trouble  to  him. — He  said, 
This  sickness  is  not  unto  death.  That  is, 
has  not  death  for  its  object ;  {nn^i  with  the 
accusative,  marks  strictly  the  object  towards 
which  anything  is  directed.)  Christ  does  not 
say  that  Lazarus  will  not  die,  but  that  death  is 
not  the  end  for  which  this  sickness  is  ordained  of 
God. — But  for  the  glory  of  God,  that  the 
Son  of  God  might  be  glorified  thereby. 
Comp.  ch.  9  :  3,  note.  He  was  glorified,  (1)  per- 
haps by  the  development  of  a  higher  spiritual 
life  in  Lazarus  through  his  sickness,  death  and 
resurrection  {Trench),  though  of  this  the  Evan- 
gelist gives  us  no  hint ;  (2)  by  the  manifestation 
of  the  divine  power  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  one  whom 
the  Father  always  hears  (ver.  42) ;  (3)  by  the  Pas- 
sion and  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  which  the 
resurrection  of  Lazarus  directly  led  (vers.  47-53). 
This  saying  of  Christ  seems  to  have  been  uttered 
not  merely  to  his  disciples ;  it  was  apparently  his 
message  to  the  sisters,  and  to  it  he  refers  in 
verse  40  (see  note  there). 


5-7.  NoAV  Jesus  loved  Martha,  etc.  This 
statement  is  made  in  explanation  of  verse  6,  that 
the  reader  may  not  fall  into  the  error  of  sup- 
posing that  Christ's  delay  was  due  to  any  indif- 
ference or  unconcern  on  his  part. — He  abode 
two  days  in  the  same  place  where  he 
Avas.  Why  ?  Either  because  this  delay  was 
necessary  to  complete  the  work  in  which  he  was 
engaged,  and  from  which  he  would  not  suffer 
himself  to  be  drawn  away  even  by  considerations 
of  personal  sympathy,  he  himself  acting  on  the 
principle  "Let  the  dead  bury  their  dead,  but  go 
thou  and  preach  the  kingdom  of  God  "  (Luke  9 :  eo); 
or  because  this  delay  was  necessary  to  the  con- 
summation of  the  miracle  of  the  resurrection  of 
Lazarus  in  such  form  as  to  forever  prohibit  the 
impression  that  death  had  not  really  taken  place. 
The  former  is  the  better  hypothesis,  since  in  no 
case  does  Christ  seem  to  have  wrought  a  miracle 
for  the  mere  purpose  of  producing  by  it  a  pro- 
found impression,  and  it  is  therefore  hardly  con- 
sistent to  believe  that  he  would  hav^e  delayed 
merely  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  miracle 
more  startling  and  marvelous. — Let  us  go  into 
Judea  again.  This  plainly  implies  that  Jesus 
and  his  disciples  were  not  then  in  Judea,  and 
thus  incidentally  confirms  the  supposition  (see 
Prel.  Note)  that  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus  was 
subsequent  to  the  close  of  the  ministry  in  Perea, 
and  that  he  was  summoned  from  Perea. 

8-10.  The  disciples  say  to  him,  Master, 
the  Judeans  Avere  just  now  seeking  to 
stone  thee.  On  the  chronological  hypothesis 
adopted  above,  the  mob  in  Jerusalem  had  threat- 
ened the  life  of  Jesus  about  three  months  pre- 
vious. But  he  had  not  been  in  Judea  since.  The 
disciples  attributed  Christ's  remaining  in  Perea  to 
the  fear  of  the  Jews,  and  remonstrated  against 
his  again  braving  them. — Jesus  answered. 
Are  there  not  twelve  hours  in  the  day, 
etc.  In  interpreting  Christ's  enigmatical  saying 
here,  the  student  must  remember  that  it  was  his 
habit  to  speak  in  parables,  and  that  he  rarely 
gave  any  interpretation  of  them.  This  is  to  be 
regarded  as  a  condensed  and  uninterpreted  para- 
ble. John  has  himself  given  us  the  key  to  its 
interpretation  by  his  use  of  the  same  metaphor 
in  his  Epistle  (1  John  1 : 5-7).  God  is  the  light.  As 
he  has  appointed  the  hours  of  activity  for  the 
human  race,  the  twelve  hours  of  the  day,  so  he 


138 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XL 


11  These  things  said  he  :  and  after  that  he  saith  unto 
them,  Our  friend  Lazarus  sleepelh :  >»  but  I  go,  that  I 
may  awake  him  out  of  sleep. 

12  Then  said  his  disciples,  Lord,  if  he  sleep,  he  shall 
do  well, 

13  Howbeit  Jesus  spake  of  his  death  :  but  they 
thought  that  he  had  spoken  of  taking  of  rest  in  sleep. 

14  Then  said  Jesus  unto  them  plainly,  Lazarus  is 
dead  ; 


15  And  I  am  glad  for  your  sakes  that  I  was  not  there, 
to  the  intent  ye  may  believe ;  nevertheless  let  us  go 
unto  him. 

16  Then  said  Thomas,  which  is  called  Didymus,  unto 
his  fellow-disciples,  Let  us  also  go,  that  we  may  die 
with  him. 

17  Then  when  Jesus  came,  he  found  that  he  had  lain 
in  the  grave  four  days  already. 


u  Deut.  31  ;  16  ;  Acts  7  :  60  ;  1  Cor.  15  :  18,  51. 


has  appointed  the  hours  of  service  for  each  indi- 
vidual man.  What  was  true  of  Christ  is  true  of 
every  one ;  he  cannot  die  until  his  time  has 
come  (John  7  :  6, 8, 30;  8 :  20).  He  therefore  who 
walks  with  God  in  the  path  of  dut}^  fulfilling 
the  divine  will,  cannot  stumble ;  no  harm  can 
come  to  him  ;  not  a  hair  of  his  head  can  be  in- 
jured (Psalm  91  ;   Matt.  10  :  29-31 ;   Luke  10  :  19  ;   21  :  is).      He 

may  and  must  come  to  his  death  ;  but  not  untU 
his  twelve  hours  have  passed  away.  But  if  a 
man  work  in  darkness,  i.  e.,  not  with  God,  not 
in  the  path  of  duty,  not  endeavoring  to  fulfil  the 
divine  will,  for  him  there  is  no  assurance  of  pro- 
tection ;  he  is  always  liable  to  stumble  and  fall. 
This  is  the  general  principle  Avhich  Christ  para- 
bolically  asserts  ;  its  immediate  application  here 
is  that  to  Christ  there  is  no  danger  In  going  into 
Judea,  for  he  will  not  die  until  his  appointed  time 
has  fully  come.     Comp.  ch.  9  :  4,  note. 

11-13.  Our  friend  Lazarus  sleepeth.  An 
interval  is  indicated  as  having  taken  place  be- 
tween the  previous  discourse  and  the  present 
declaration,  by  the  words,  after  that  he  saith  unto 
them.  Ou7- friend,  implies  that  Lazarus  was  loved 
by  the  disciples  as  well  as  by  their  Lord.  This 
language,  coupled  with  that  of  verse  3,  indicates 
that  he  possessed  a  peculiarly  lovable  character. 
Sleep  is  used  both  in  the  O.  T.  and  N.  T.  as  a 

metaphor  of  death  (2  Chron.  U  :  1  ;  Ps.  13  :  a  ;  Jer.  51  :  57 ; 
Job  14  :  12  ;  Dan.  12:2;  Matt.  27  :  52  ;  Acts  7  :  60  ;  13  :  36  ;  1  Cor. 
7:39;  11:  30;    15:6,18,20,51;    1  Thess.  4  :  13,  14,  is).      Some 

of  the  rationalistic  critics  think  that  the  disciples 
were  extraordinarily  stupid,  not  to  understand 
Christ's  metaphor ;  and  yet  they  are  guilty  of  a 
similar  but  greater  stupidity.  Thus,  the  author 
of  Supernatural  Religion  says  (voi.  ii,  46o) :  "  The 
disciples  reply  with  the  stupidity  with  which  the 
fourth  Evangelist  endows  all  those  who  hold 
colloquy  with  Jesus  :  (Lord,  if  he  has  fallen  asleep 
he  will  recover;)"  and  yet,  on  the  immediately 
preceding  page,  he  interprets  Christ's  similar 
declaration  respecting  the  daughter  of  Jairus 
(Matt.  9 :  24) :  "  The  maid  is  not  dead  but  sleepeth," 
as  "an  express  declaration"  that  the  case  is 
"one  of  mere  suspension  of  consciousness." 
The  misapprehen=ion  of  the  apostles  here  was 
not  extraordinary ;  certainly  not  more  so  than 
that  afforded  by  some  analogous  instances  in  the 
first  three  Gospels  (see  Matt,  le :  7 ;  Luke  22 :  .38).  They 
had  understood  from  verse  4,  that  Lazarus  was 


to  be  restored ;  they  had  interpreted  Christ's 
words  as  a  promise  of  healing ;  they  had  wit- 
nessed cases  of  miraculous  healing  in  at  least 
two  instances,  wrought  by  a  word  on  an  absent 

patient  (Luke  7  :  lO  ;  John  4  :  50-53)  ;  SO  WheU  JcSUS  Said, 

"Lazarus  is  sleeping,"  they  thought  the  crisis 
of  the  disease  had  passed,  and  that  there  was 
no  reason  why  their  Master  should  brave  the 
dangers  of  a  Judean  mob  to  go  to  the  bedside  of 
a  convalescent  friend. 

14-16.  Theu  Jesus  said  unto  them 
plainly  {nu<]uiinltf).  That  is,  dropping  all  meta- 
phor.— And  I  am  glad  for  your  sakes  that 
I  was  not  there.  He  accompanies  the  declara- 
tion of  the  friend's  death  with  words  of  consola- 
tion and  inspu-ation.  Plain  as  those  words  are 
to  us,  they  must  have  been  inexplicable  to  the 
disciples.  They  did  not  forecast  the  resurrec- 
tion ;  how  could  they  understand  why  Christ 
should  not  have  been  present  to  prevent  so  great 
a  sorrow.  The  sympathy  of  Christ  with  us  in 
our  sorrow  does  not  prevent  him,  who  sees  the 
end  from  the  beginning,  from  rejoicing  even  when 
he  sees  our  tears.  He  sees  the  sheaves  brought 
home  with  joy  even  while  the  seed  is  sown  in 
tears,  and  rejoices  at  the  tears  because  of  the  har- 
vest. To  him,  faith  wrought  in  the  soul  is  worth 
immeasurably  more  than  all  the  sorrow  which 
soul-culture  involves  (Rom.  5  :  i-s;  s :  is). — Then 
said  Thomas  Avhich  is  called  Didymus, 
that  is,  the  twin. — Let  us  also  go  that  we 
may  die  Avith  him.  With  Christ,  not  with 
Lazarus.  The  little  that  we  know  about  Thomas 
shows  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  strong  passions 
and  of  little  faith  and  hope  ;  to  such  a  man  life 
is  full  of  pathos.  He  could  not  believe  that 
Christ  could  with  safety  go  into  Judea  again ; 
in  this,  indeed,  he  really  forecast  the  result, 
which  was  the  crucifixion  of  his  Lord ;  but 
neither  could  he  bear  to  be  separated  from  him. 
Chrysostom  notes  the  power  of  Christ  on  this 
timid  nature  :  "  The  very  man  who  dared  not  to 
go  in  company  with  Christ  to  Bethany,  after- 
wards traveled  with  him  through  the  inhabited 
world,  and  dwelt  in  the  rnidst  of  nations  that 
were  full  of  murderers  desirous  to  kill  him."  On 
the  character  of  Thomas,  see  further.  Vol.  I, 
p.  149 ;  John  30  :  24,  note. 

17,  18.  He  had  lain  in  the  grave  four 
days  already.    Various  explanations  are  made 


Ch.  XL] 


JOHN. 


139 


18  Now  Bethany  was  nigh  unto  Jerusalem,  about 
fifteen  furlongs  off: 

19  And  mani^  ot  the  Jews  came  to  Martha  and  Mary, 
to"  comfort  them  concerning  their  brotiicr. 

20  Then  Martha,  as  soon  as  she  heard  that  Jesus  was 


coming,  went  and  met  him :  but  Mary  sat  still  in  the 
house. 

21  Then  said  Martha  unto  Jesus.  Lord,  if  thou  hadst 
been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died 

22  But  I  know,  that  even  now,  whatsoever*  thou 
wilt  aslc  of  God,  God  will  give  it  thee. 


V  1  Chron.  7  :  22 ;  Job  2  :  11 ;  42  :  11  ;  Rom.  12  :  15 ;  1  Tliesa.  4  :  18 w  ch.  9  :  31. 


respecting  these  four  days ;  they  are  given  in 
detail  in  Andrews'  Life  of  Our  Lord.  Since, 
however,  we  do  not  know  definitely  where  Christ 
was,  except  that  it  was  some  point  apparently 
beyond  Jordan,  and  we  do  not  know  at  all  what 
engagements  and  duties  detained  him  there, 
surmises  as  to  the  way  in  which  these  four 
days  were  taken  up  are  decidedly  unprofitable. 
The  narrative  seems  to  me  clearly  to  imply  that 
Lazarus  was  not  dead  when  the  messengers  first 
reached  Jesus.  Probably  of  these  four  days, 
two  were  occupied  by  Christ  in  completing  his 
ministry  where  he  was  when  he  received  the 
message,  and  two,  or  part  of  two  days,  in  a 
leisurely  journey  to  the  home  of  Lazarus. — 
Bethany  was  nigh  unto  Jerusalem.  The 
use  of  the  past  tense  was,  not  is,  indicates  that 
Bethany  had  ceased  to  exist  at  the  time  when 
John  wrote  his  Gosj^el ;  it  thus  incidentally  con- 
firms the  opinion  that  he  wrote  a  considerable 
time  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and 
when  that  city  and  its  environs  were  lying  waste. 
— About  fifteen  furlongs  off.  Literally, 
stadia.  The  stadium  is  about  six  hundred  feet ; 
fifteen  stadia  or  furlongs  were,  therefore,  about 
nine  thousand  feet,  or  a  little  less  than  two  miles. 
19.  And  many  of  the  Judeans  came 
to  lylartha  and  Mary.  The  word  Jeios,  as 
used  by  John,  indicates  always  the  inhabitants 
of  Judea,  as  distinguished  from  those  of  other 
provinces  in  the  Holy  Land,  end  therefore  gen- 
erally those  who  were  prejudiced  against,  if  not 
absolutely  hostile  to  Jesus.  The  fact  that  most 
of  those  who  were  present  at  the  scene  about 
to  be  described  were  these  Judeans,  is  an  im- 
portant one,  and  must  be  borne  in  mind  by  the 
student,  for  it  gives  a  peculiar  color  and  sig- 
nificance to  the  entire  narrative. — To  comfort 
them  concerning  their  brother.  The  Jew- 
ish mourning  rites  were  most  carefully  defined 
by  the  Rabbinical  law  ;  they  included  rending  the 
clothes,  dressing  in  sackcloth,  sprinkling  of  ashes 
or  dust  on  the  person,  fasting,  loud  lamenting. 
Professional  mourners  were  employed  to  in- 
crease the  noisy  demonstrations  of  grief  Csee  Mark 
6  :  ,'i8,  note).  The  days  of  mourning  were  thirty, 
which  were  divided  into  three  for  weeping, 
seven  for  lamentation,  and  twenty  for  less  demon- 
strative mourning.  During  the  first  three  days 
the  mourners  were  forbidden  to  wear  their  phy- 
lacteries or  to  engage  in  any  .servile  work,  or  to 
bathe  or  anoint  themselves ;  during  the  seven 


days  they  fasted  or  ate  nothing  but  an  occasional 
egg  or  some  k-ntiles.  After  the  funeral  services 
were  over  (for  account  of  which  see  Luke  7  :  12, 
note),  friends  and  professional  mourners  came 
and  sat  with  the  afflicted  ones  upon  the  ground, 
no  one  speaking  until  the  bereaved  ones  had 
done  so,  but  every  sentence  of  theirs  was  fol- 
lowed by  some  word  of  sympathy  and  comfort 
or  by  the  wail  of  the  mourners.  Everything 
was  done  according  to  a  prearranged  system ; 
in  Phariseeism  there  was  no  liberty,  even  in  the 
hour  of  grief. 

20-22.  Then  Martha  *  *  *  Avent  and 
met  him.  Jesus  did  not  enter  into  the  village, 
but  stopped  without  and  sent  some  one  to  let 
the  sisters  know  that  he  had  come.  Geikie  sup- 
poses that  he  thus  remained  without  from  fear 
of  the  Jews ;  but  Christ  never  stopped  in  the 
performance  of  a  duty  from  considerations  of 
fear ;  his  reply  to  the  remonstrances  of  his  dis- 
cijales  (vers.  8-io)  should  have  prevented  this  pro- 
saic interpretation  of  Christ's  action.  To  him 
the  conventional  mourning  customs  of  Oriental 
society  were  exceedingly  distasteful.  He  who 
put  all  the  noisy  mourners  out  of  the  room  in 
which  the  daughter  of  Jairus  lay  dead  (Mark  5 :  40), 
and  who  so  gently  rebuked  the  noisy  and  osten- 
tatious lamentations  of  the  women  of  Jerusalem 
at  the  time  of  his  own  crucifixion  (Luke  23 ;  27-31), 
might  naturally  be  expected  to  decline  to  enter 
into  the  circle  of  formal  mourners,  wxth  the 
alternative  of  either  violating  the  precedents  and 
rules  of  good  society,  or  of  submitting  himself 
in  such  an  hour  to  the  bondage  which  they 
imposed. — But  Mary  sat  still  in  the  house. 
It  would  appear  from  verse  29,  that  she  did  not 
know  that  Jesus  had  come ;  yet  the  contrast 
between  the  two  sisters,  the  one  of  whom  with 
bustling  activity  waited  upon  her  Lord,  the 
other  of  whom,  in  the  quieter  oflflces  of  love,  sat 
at  his  feet  to  listen  to  his  words,  or  anoint  those 
feet  with  precious  ointment  (Luke  10 :  38-12 ;  John 
12 :  1-8),  reappears  here.  Martha,  who  was  proba- 
bly the  head  of  the  household,  was  naturally  the 
first  to  hear  of  Christ's  coming,  and  even  in  her 
grief  found  comfort  in  activity  ;  to  Mary,  in  the 
solitude  of  her  sorrow,  no  one  at  first  reported 
Christ's  approach. — Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been 
here,  my  brother  had  not  died.  This  is  the 
language  both  of  reproach  and  of  lamentation, 
though  the  reproach  is  implied  rather  than 
asserted.      Her   language    expresses   the   very 


140 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XL 


23  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again. 

24  Martha  saith  unto  him,  I  know  that  he  shall  rise 
again  in  the"  resurrection  at  the  last  day. 

25  Jesus  said  unto  her,  I  am  the  1  resurrection,  and 


the  life ;  ^  he  that  believeth  in  me,  though '  he  were 
dead,  yet  shall  he  live  ; 

26  And  whosoever''  liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall 
never  die.    Believest  thou  this  ? 


ch.  5  :  29  .  . .  .  y  ch.  6  :  40,  44 z  ch.  14  :  6  ;  Isa.  38  :  16  ;  1  John  1  :  2  ....  a  Job  19  :  26  ;  Isa.  26  :  19  ;  Rom.  4  :  17  ....  b  chaps.  3  :  15  ;  4  :  14 


essence  of  soul  torture  at  such  times.  We  are 
slow  to  believe  that  our  sorrow  is  "for  the  glory 
of  God  that  the  Son  of  God  may  be  glorified 
thereby,"  and  in  our  affliction  continually  echo 
Martha's  "if,"  saying  to  ourselves,  if  we  had 
not  done  this,  or  if  we  had  not  done  that,  if 
it  had  not  been  for  our  blunder  or  that  of  our 
friends  or  our  physician,  our  beloved  would  not 
have  died.  Chance  is  the  God  of  Atheism,  and 
is  a  comfortless  God  in  the  time  of  our  trouble. 
—But  I  know  that  even  now  Avhatsoever 
thou  shouldst  ask  of  God,  God  will  give 
it  thee.  This  is  interpreted  by  Meyer  and 
Godet  as  an  expression  of  Martha's  faith  that 
Jesus  is  able  to  raise  even  the  dead  to  life  again ; 
but  in  or<Jer  to  sustain  this  interpretation,  they 
are  obliged  to  depart  from  a  natural  and  simple 
interpretation  of  Christ's  declaration  in  vers.  25, 
26,  to  suppose  that  Martha  desired  or  was  antici- 
pating her  brother's  resurrection,  and  yet  was  so 
obtuse  as  to  entirely  miss  the  meaning  of  Christ 
in  that  declaration,  and,  finally,  to  suppose  that 
the  faith  which  she  possessed  when  she  first 
beheld  Christ  disappeared  when  she  reached  the 
tomb,  where  she  remonstrated  against  opening  it 
that  the  resurrection  might  be  accomplished. 
I  understand  Martha's  utterance  here  to  be  that 
simply  of  an  undefined  hope.  She  had  counted 
so  much  on  Christ ;  he  had  not  come  in  the  hour 
of  her  need  ;  all  was  over  now  ;  and  yet  now  that 
he  had  come,  although  too  late,  she  went  out  to 
him  with  a  vague,  restless  hope  of  some  succor 
or  consolation,  she  knew  not  what.  In  our  own 
experience  in  the  unreasonableness  of  grief,  like 
vague  and  delusive  hopes  are  not  uncommon. 
Calvin's  interpretation  of  Martha's  experience 
better  accords  both  with  what  we  elsewhere 
know  of  her  character  and  with  the  narrative 
here,  than  does  that  of  those  who  eulogize  her 
extraordinary  faith  :  "  When  she  assures  herself 
that  her  brother  would  not  have  died  if  Christ 
had  been  present,  what  ground  has  she  for 
this  confidence  ?  certainly  it  did  not  arise  from 
any  promise  from  Christ.  The  only  conclusion, 
therefore,  is  that  she  inconsiderately  yields  to 
her  own  wishes,  instead  of  subjecting  herself  to 
Christ.  "When  she  ascribes  to  Christ  power  and 
supreme  goodness,  this  proceeds  from  faith  ;  but 
when  she  persuades  herself  of  more  than  she 
had  heard  Christ  declare,  that  has  nothing  to  do 
with  faith.  *  *  *  Martha's  faith,  mixed  up  and 
interwoven  with  ill-regulated  desires,  and  even 
not  wholly  free  from   superstition,   could  not 


shine  with  full  brightness ;  so  that  we  perceive 
but  a  few  sparks  of  it  in  these  words." 
23-24.   Thy  brother  shall    rise    again. 

Evidently  these  words  were  not  understood  by 
Martha  to  contain  a  promise  of  immediate  resur- 
rection, and  therefore  we  are  not  justified  in 
saying  that  they  were  so  intended  by  Jesus. 
They  are  vague,  and  are  intended  to  be  vague 
and  suggestive,  in  order  to  lead  on  the  mind  of 
Martha,  and  to  evoke  an  expression  of  her  faith . 
This  method  of  calling  out  the  experience  of  his 
pupil  was  a  customary  one  with  Jesus  in  all  his 
instruction. — I  know  that  he  shall  rise 
again  in  the  resurrection  at  the  last  day. 
This  statement  of  Martha's  faith  is  to  be  inter- 
preted by  the  belief  of  the  orthodox  Jews.  This 
was  that  all  the  dead  departed  to  Hades  or  the 
Under-world,  where  they  dwelt  in  a  shadowy 
prison-house ;  the  righteous  in  Paradise  ;  the 
wicked  in  Hell ;  and  awaited  the  coming  of  the 
Messiah,  who  would  call  all  the  righteous  from 
the  Under-world,  while  the  wicked  would  be 
thrust  back  into  it  again.  Martha  believed  that 
her  brother  had  gone  to  this  abode  of  the  dead, 
and  there  was  awaiting  a  day  of  judgment  and 
of  resurrection ;  but  she  found  in  this  faith  very 
httle  consolation.  Her  brother,  to  her  thought, 
was  as  if  he  were  not,  and  dwelt  among  the  dead. 
A  vague  hope  of  a  far-distant  revival  did  not 
comfort  her.  It  is  in  contrast  to,  and  in  cor- 
rection of  this  creed,  that  Christ  utters  the  dec- 
laration of  verses  25,  26. 

25,  26.  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the 
life.  He  that  believeth  in  me  even  if  he 
could  die  {xuv  dnod-dyii)  yet  he  should  live, 
and  every  one  that  liveth  and  believeth 
in  me  never  can  die.  The  various  and  con- 
flicting interpretations  afforded  by  the  commen- 
tators of  this  declaration  of  Christ  agree  only  in 
being  complicated  and  abstruse.  It  is  essen- 
tial to  comfort  that  it  should  be  simple  truth 
simply  expressed ;  and  that  Christ  should  offer 
as  a  consolation  to  Martha  a  truth  so  subtle  and 
involved  in  so  much  mystery  that  skillful  scholar- 
ship can  scarce  unlock  its  meaning,  seems  to  me 
utterly  incredible.  I  understand  these  words  as 
an  embodiment  of  Christ's  creed  respecting  life 
and  immortality.  Jesus  is  the  source  of  the 
resurrection,  and  the  fountain  of  life.  Whoever, 
therefore,  by  faith  in  Christ,  has  Christ  in  him 
the  hope  of  glory,  never  knows  death  ;  to  him 
there  is  no  Hades,  no  dark  and  dismal  abode  of 
the  dead,  no  long  and  weary  waiting  for  a  final 


Ch.  XL] 


JOHN. 


141 


27  She  saith  unto  him,  Yea,  Lord  ;  I  believe  that  thou 
art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  which  should  come  into 
the  world. 

28  And  when  she  had  so  said,  she  went  her  way,  and 
called  Mary  lier  sister  secretly,' saying,  The  Master "" 
is  come,  and  calletli  >■  for  thee. 

29  As  soon  as  she  heard  that^  she  arose  quickly,  and 
came  unto  him. 


30  Now  Jesus  was  not  yet  come  into  the  town,  but 
was  in  that  place  where  Martha  met  him. 

31  The  Jews"^  then  which  were  with  her  in  the  house, 
and  comforted  her,  when  they  saw  Mary,  that  she  lose 
up  hastily  and  went  out,  followed  her,  saying,  She 
goeth  unto  the  grave  to  weep  there. 

32  Then  when  Mary  was  come  where  Jesus  was,  and 
saw  him,  she  fell  down  at  his  feet,  saying  unto  him, 


c  ch.  21  :  7 d  ch.  13  :  13 . 


!  Mark  10  :  49 f  verse  19. 


great  jail  delivery — a  judgment  and  an  acquittal. 
He  passes  at  once  from  the  lower  to  the  higher 
state  ;  he  has  already  come  to  the  general  assem- 
bly and  church  of  the  first-born  (Heb.  12 :  22-J4). 
What  we  call  death  summons  him  simply  to 
depart  and  be  straightway  with  Christ  (phii.  1 :  23 ; 
Luke  23 :  43).  The  eternal  life  which  Christ  here 
and  now  gives  to  those  who  are  by  faith  united 
to  him  (John  5 :  24),  Is  nevcr  suspended.  So  immor- 
tal and  potent  is  this  life  principle  which  Christ 
offers  to  those  who  have  received  him,  that,  if  it 
■were  possible  that  one  having  died  should  receive 
it,  he  would  by  it  be  made  to  live  again.  Against 
the  conception,  common  now  as  then,  of  death 
as  a  long  sleep  or  a  long  and  dreary  waiting  for 
a  final  resurrection,  is  Christ's  teaching  here  that 
"There  is  no  death  ;  what  seems  so  is  transition." 
In  confirmation  of  this  view,  observe,  (1)  That 
Christ's  declaration  is  present,  not  future  :  "/ 
am  the  resurrection,^''  not,  I  shall  by-mid-by  become 
so.  (2)  The  conditional  clause  though  he  were 
dead,  is  literally  even  though  he  should  die,  and  is 
fairly  rendered  by  the  phrase  adopted  above, 
eve7i  if  fie  could  die.  (3)  Thus  interpreted,  Christ's 
declaration  is  responsive  to  Martha's  confession 
of  faith,  and  leads  on  to  and  agrees  with  the 
event  which  follows,  the  restoration  of  Lazarus 
to  his  earthly  life.  (4)  It  accords  with  the 
general  teaching  of  the  N.  T.,  in  which  Christ  is 
represented  as  the  source  of  eternal  life,  and  the 
death  of  the  saints  as  a  doorway  into  his  imme- 
diate presence  (Acts  7  :  59  ;  Rom.  14  :  8  ;  2  Cor.  5  :  8  ;  1  Thess. 
S  :  10  ;  2  Tim.  4  :  8  ;  2  Peter  1:11,  etc.).      It  IS  UOt  nCCCSSary 

to  give  here  other  interpretations,  for  they  are 
complicated,  incongruous,  and  almost  impossible 
to  classify.  They  are  the  results  of  various  and 
unsuccessful  endeavors  to  bring  Christ's  declara- 
tion into  accord  with  the  Pharisaic  faith,  which 
still  lingers  in  the  Christian  church,  of  a  resur- 
rection and  an  eternal  life  postponed  to  th« 
future,  and  an  abode  in  death,  meanwhile,  in 
some  sort  of  an  intermediate  state. 

27.  Yea,  Lord;  I  have  believed  that 
thou  art  the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  God,  he 
who  was  to  come  unto  the  world.  Ihave 
believed  {ntniativxa),  the  perfect  tense,  indicates 
the  expression  of  a  well-established  faith ;  per- 
haps of  one  which  Christ  well  knew  that  she 
had  entertained.  Martha  still  adheres  to  her 
Pharisaic  creed ;  we  do  not  give  up  our  religious 
beliefs  easily.     At  Christ's  question,  "Belie vest 


thou  that  I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life, 
and  that  they  that  believe  in  me  shall  never  die '?" 
she  replies  in  effect:  "Yea,  Lord;  1  believe 
that  thou  art  the  Messiah  of  the  prophets  at 
whose  word  all  the  dead  shall  come  forth  from 
Hades  unto  judgment."  And  in  this  faith  she 
does  have  some  comfort,  because  she  supposes 
this  day  of  general  resurrection  cannot,  in  the 
nature  of  the  case,  be  far  distant. 

38-30.  She  Avent  her  way  and  called 
Mary  her  sister  secretly.  Evidently,  from 
her  words  The  Master  calleth  for  thee,  she  did  this 
in  obedience  to  Christ's  direction.  She  went 
secretly  because  she  did  not  desire  the  presence 
of  the  Judeans  at  the  quiet  conference  between 
Jesus  Christ  and  herself  and  sister. — The  Mas- 
ter is  come  and  calleth  for  thee.  She 
represses  the  name,  perhaps  because  she  does 
not  desire  it  to  be  overheard  by  those  who 
are  present.  The  general  designation,  however, 
the  Master  or  the  Teachei'  is  enough.  To  Mary 
there  is  no  one  else  worthy  to  be  called  the 
Teacher. — As  soon  as  she  heard  that,  she 
rose  quickly.  Therefore  presumptively,  Mary 
had  not  before  heard  that  Jesus  had  arrived. — 
Jesus  *  *  *  was  in  that  place  where 
Martha  met  him.  Not  at  the  grave  where 
Lazarus  was  buried  (ver.  34),  but  at  some  point  a 
little  outside  the  village. 

31,  32.  She  goeth  unto  the  grave  to 
weep  there.  It  was  the  custom  of  Jewish 
women  often  to  visit  the  graves  of  their  dead, 
especially  during  the  first  days  of  mourning. 
These  too  obtrusive  mourners  could  not  com- 
prehend that  Mary  might  desire  solitude  in  her 
sorrow.  They  would  not  allow  her  to  retreat 
from  them.  Thus  the  private  interview  which 
Jesus  desired  with  the  two  sisters  was  denied 
him.  Consequently  there  was  no  real  conference 
between  Jesus  and  Mary ;  as  soon  as  she  came 
he  asked  to  be  shown  the  grave. — She  fell 
down  at  his  feet.  With  a  more  passionate 
nature  than  that  of  Martha,  her  action  and  her 
attitude  were  both  more  strongly  indicative  of 
her  uncontrollable  emotion.  Possibly  she  threw 
herself  prostrate  at  his  feet  in  the  form  of  salu- 
tation ordinarily  paid  by  an  inferior  to  a  superior 
in  the  East ;  yet,  with  her  face  upon  the  ground, 
she  could  hardly  have  carried  on  any  conference 
whatever.  More  probably,  therefore,  she  fiung 
herself  at  first  at  his  feet,  then  partially  raised 


142 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XI. 


Lord,  ife  thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not 
died. 

33  When  Jesus  therefore  saw  her  weeping,  and  the 
Jews  also  weeping  which  came  with  her,  he  groaned 
in  the  spirit,  and  was  troubled, 


34  And  said.  Where  have  ye  laid  him  ?    They  said 
unto  him,  Lord,  come  and  see. 

35  Jesus  wept.*" 

36  Then  said  the  Jews,  Behold,  how  he  loved  him ! 


g  verses  21,  37  ;  ch.  4  :  49 h  Isa.  63  :  9  ;  Luke  19  :  41  ;  Heb.  2  :  16, 17. 


FELL  AT   HIS   FEET. 


herself  again  to  break  forth  in  her  reproachful 
complaint. — Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been  here 
my  brother  would  not    have    died.     Her 

language  is  nearly  the  same  as  that  of  Martha, 
but  she  adds  no  expression  of  hope ;  her  pro- 
founder  nature  refuses  to  entertain  a  hope  for 
which  she  can  give  herself  no  reason. 

33-35.  When  Jesus  therefore  saw  her 
lamenting  and  the  Judeans  also  lament- 
ing which  came  with  her.  The  word  trans- 
lated in  the  English  version  iveeping,  but  which 
I  have  rendered  lamenting,  is  not  the  same  as 
that  employed  in  the  declaration  of  verse  3.5, 
"  Jesus  wept."  It  implies  not  only  the  shedding 
of  tears  but  also  every  external  expression  of 
grief — the  loud  outcries,  the  rending  of  garments, 
and  the  whole  vociferous  and  ostentatious  mani- 
festation of  mourning. — He  groaned  in  the 
spirit  and  was  troubled.  There  seems  to 
be  no  doubt  that   the   Greek  word   rendered 


groaned,  necessarily  involves  in  it  the  idea  of 
anger  or  indignation ;  it  is  so  rendered  in  the 
Vulgate  and  in  Luther's  translation.  "The 
words  hrimaomi  (iSQuiuouai)  and  embrimaomi 
{si.iliQiuui)/,iai)  are  never  used  otherwise  than  of 
hot  anger  in  the  classics ;   the  Septuagint  and 

N.   T.    (Matt.  9  :  30  ;    Mark  1  :  43 ;   14  :  s),    CXCept   where 

they  denote  snorting  or  growling  proper." — 
{Meyer.)  With  this  agree  both  the  lexicons  and 
the  critics  generally.  What  was  the  cause  of 
this  indignation  ?  According  to  some  of  the  older 
commentaries,  Christ  was  indignant  with  himself 
for  his  weakness  in  yielding  to  his  emotions ;  his 
divinity  was  irritated  at  the  emotion  of  his 
humanity,  and  violently  repressed  it.  This  opin- 
ion needs  no  refutation  with  those  who  believe 
that  Christianity  tends  to  intensify,  not  to  sup- 
press the  natural  affections — that  Christian  sym- 
pathy weeps  with  those  that  weep  as  well  as 
rejoices  with  those  that  rejoice  ;  and  who  find  in 


Ch.  XL] 


JOHN. 


143 


37  And  some  of  them  said,  Could  not  this  man, 
which '  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  have  caused  that 
even  this  man  should  not  have  died  ? 

38  Jesus  therefore,  again  groaning  in  himself,  cometh 
to  the  grave.    It  was  a  cave,  and  a  stone  lay  upon  it. 


39  Jesus  said,  Take  ye  awayj  the  stone.  Martha, 
the  sister  of  him  that  was  dead,  saith  unto  him.  Lord, 
by  this  time  "  he  stinketh :  for  he  hath  been  dead  four 
days. 


i  cb.  9  :  6 j  Mark  16  : 3 k  Fe.  49  :  7,  9  :  Acta  3  :  37. 


the  tears  of  Christ  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  not  a 
manifestation  of  human  weakness,  but  an  expres- 
sion of  divine  sympathy  which  draws  God  very 
near  to  every  sorrowing  heart.  Others  suppose 
that  Christ  saw  in  this  scene  a  type  of  the  woe 
that  sin  has  wrought  in  the  world ;  seeing 
its  effects  his  indignation  was  aroused.  Thus 
Trench:  "He  beheld  death  in  all  its  dread  sig- 
nificance, as  the  wages  of  sin ;  the  needs  of  the 
whole  world,  of  which  this  was  but  a  little 
example,  rose  up  before  his  eyes  ;  all  its  mourn- 
ers and  all  its  graves  were  present  to  him." 
We  may  certainly  believe  that  this  profound 
sense  of  the  significance  of  this  scene  of  sorrow 
affected  Christ  and  intensified  his  sympathy ; 
that  the  tears  that  he  shed  were  tears  of  sympa- 
thy, not  only  with  Mary  and  Martha,  but  also 
with  all  sorrowing  households.  This,  however, 
interprets  rather  his  sorrow  than  his  indignation. 
A  simple  and  natural  interpretation  of  this  indig- 
nation is  afforded  by  a  consideration  of  the  cir- 
cumstances and  surroundings.  He  was  indignant 
at  the  display  of  the  affected  grief  of  those  who 
were  bitter  enemies  of  the  truth,  and  who  would, 
as  he  well  knew,  make  use  of  this  very  miracle 
to  promote  his  death,  and  would  even  join  with 
those  who  would  seek  to  put  Lazarus  him- 
self to  death  again  (ch.  12 :  10).  He  was  indignant 
v)hen  he  saw  the  Jews  also  lamenting,  and  again 
when  he  heard  the  sneer  uttered  by  them  (see 
ver.  37,  note).  To  this  effect  is  Meyer:  "He  was 
angered,  then,  at  the  Judeans,  when  he  saw  them 
lamenting  with  the  deep-feeling  Mary,  and  pro- 
fessing by  their  cries  (of  condolence)  to  share 
her  feelings,  whilst  at  the  same  time  aware  that 
they  were  full  of  bitter  hostility  to  him  who  was 
the  beloved  friend  both  of  those  who  mourned 
and  of  him  whom  they  mourned." — And  was 
troubled.  Literally,  he  troubled  himself.  The 
words  "indicate  a  physical  emotion,  a  bodily 
trembling,  which  might  be  perceived  by  the 
witnesses  of  this  scene. ' ' — {Godet. ) — Lord ,  come 
and  see.  They  did  not  anticipate  his  purpose  ; 
they  simply  invited  him  to  come  to  the  grave,  as 
would  be  natural  in  such  circumstances. — Jesus 
wept.  The  Greek  {Suxqvc))  signifies  simply 
shedding  of  tears,  weeping  silently.  This  silent 
dropping  of  the  tears  from  his  eyes  is  in  contrast 
with  the  weeping  over  Jerusalem  (Luke  19  :  41, 
yj.alw).  That  was  a  public  lamentation  of  a 
prophet ;  this  was  the  expression  of  the  personal 
sympathy  of  a  friend.  Beware  of  that  false 
philosophy  which  represents  Christ  as  weeping 


only  as  a  man.  In  this,  as  in  every  utterance  of 
his  nature,  he  was  God  manifest  in  the  flesh. 
By  his  tears  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus  he  interprets 
to  us  the  divine  sympathy  which  shares  all  our 
sorrows,  however  much  the  great  Sympathizer, 
with  his  clear  view  of  final  results,  may,  like 
Christ,  be  glad  of  the  brief  experience  of  grief 
that  is  soon  to  produce  so  much  joy  (ver.  15). 

36,  37.  Then  said  the  Judeans,  Behold 
how  he  loved  him;  but  some  of  them 
said.  Could  not  this  fellow  who  opened 
the  eyes  of  the  blind  have  caused  that 
even  this  man  should  not  have  died  ? 
Some,  touched  by  Christ's  genuine  though  silent 
sorrow,  in  striking  contrast  with  the  noisier 
demonstrations  of  grief  of  the  less  sincere  mourn- 
ers, expressed  their  sense  of  the  Rabbi's  love  for 
his  friend  ;  others  replied  with  a  sneer.  This  is 
indicated  in  the  original  by  the  Greek  particle 
(da),  which  our  English  version  renders  and,  but 
which  should  be  rendered  but ;  and  by  the  phrase 
Tfiis  fellow,  which  fairly  represents  the  spirit  of 
the  original  (see  ch.  6 :  42,  note).  They  referred,  not  to 
previous  resurrections,  for  these  had  taken  place 
in  Galilee,  and  with  them  they  were  not  familiar, 
but  to  the  healing  of  the  blind  man,  which  had 
only  a  little  previously  taken  place  in  Jerusalem, 
and  which  had  led  to  a  formal  investigation  by 
the  Sanhedrim,  and  no  little  public  excitement 

(ch.  7). 

38.  Jesus  therefore,  again  indignant 
in  himself.  He  is  indignant  at  the  sneer,  and 
his  manner  gives  some  expression  to  his  indigna- 
tion, though  it  is  not  uttered  in  words. — Cometh 
to  the  grave.  It  was  a  cave,  and  a  stone 
lay  upon  it.  The  grave  was  sometimes  cut 
perpendicularly  in  the  rock,  but  the  declaration 
that  it  was  a  cave  implies  that  the  tomb  of 
Lazarus  was  in  a  horizontal  chamber.  The 
phrase  A  stone  lay  upon  it,  may  as  well  mean 
that  a  stone  was  laid  against  the  open  doorway 
as  upon  a  perpendicular  opening.  "The  famUy 
vaults  of  the  Jews  were  sometimes  natural  (oen. 
23 : 9),  sometimes,  as  was  this,  artificial,  and  hol- 
lowed out  from  a  rock  (us.  22 :  16;  Matt.  22 :  60),  in 
a  garden  (John  19 :  41),  or  in  some  field,  the  posses- 
sion   of    the    family    (Oen.  2.3  :  9,  17-20  ;    35  :  8  ;    1  Kings 

2 :  34),  with  a  recess  in  the  sides  (isa.  14  :  15),  wherein 
the  bodies  were  laid,  occasionally  with  chambers 
one  beyond  another.  Sometimes  the  entrance  to 
these  tombs  was  on  a  level ;  sometimes,  as  most 
probably  here,  there  was  a  descent  to  it  by  steps. 
The  stone  which  blocked  up  the  entrance  and 


144 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XI. 


40  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Said'  I  not  unto  thee,  that, 
if  thou  wouldest  believe,  thou  shouldest  see  the  glory 
of  God? 

41  Then  they  took  away  the  stone  front  the  place 
where  the  dead  was  laid.    And  Jesus  lifted  up  his 


eyes,  and  said,™  Father,  I  thank  thee  that  thou  hast 
heard  me. 

42  And  I  knew  that  thou  hearest  me  always :  but 
because  of  the  people  which  stand  by  I  said  zV,  that  they 
may  believe  that  tJiou  hast  sent  me. 


1  verses  4,  23 . . .  .  m  ch.  12  :  28-30. 


kept  aloof  the  beasts  of  prey,  above  all  the 
numerous  jackalls,  which  else  might  have  found 
their  way  into  these  receptacles  of  the  dead  and 
torn  the  bodies." — (Trench.)  For  further  de- 
scription and  illustration  of  Jewish  tomb,  and 
the  manner  of  closing  it  with  a  circular  stone,  see 
Mark  16  : 3-4,  note.  Presumptively,  in  this  case, 
the  stone  was  rolled  away  from  the  door  of  the 
cave,  and  Jesus  and  the  friends  stood  in  the 
doorway,  while  from  the  inner  chamber  or  recess 
where  the  body  of  Lazarus  had  been  laid,  he 
issued  forth  at  the  word  of  the  Lord.  The 
accompanying  illustration  (p.  146)  better  repre- 
sents the  nature  of  the  scene  than  it  is  possible 
to  do  by  description  only. 

39,40.  Martha  *  *  *  saith  unto  him, 
Lord,  already  he  stiuketh.  This  is  taken 
by  Alford  as  the  statement  of  the  plain  fact,  and 
he  apparently  believes  that  it  was  made  sensible 
by  the  ill  odor  which  proceeded  from  the  cave. 
Trench  objects  that  this  supposition  gives  to  the 
miracle  almost  "a  monstrous  character."  The 
text  seems  to  me  to  determine  the  question. 
Martha  asserts  the  decomposition  of  the  body, 
not  as  a  fact  known,  but  as  a  conclusion  deduced 
from  the  length  of  time  that  had  passed  since 
the  death.  With  her  it  clearly  was  an  opinion — 
whether  correct  or  not  is  purely  a  matter  of  sur- 
mise. Apparently  the  body  had  not  been  em- 
balmed ;  no  explanation  is  offered  of  this  singu- 
lar fact.  In  the  East  it  was  usual  to  embalm  the 
corpse  at  once. — For  he  hath  been  four  days 
(dead).  We  may  supply  either  the  word  dead,  as 
the  translators  have  done,  or  the  word  hurled ; 
it  will  make  little  difference,  for  burial  in  the 
warm  climate  of  tlie  East  usually  took  place  on 
the  day  of  the  death.  It  was  a  Jewish  notion 
that  for  three  days  the  spirit  wandered  about  the 
sepulchre  hoping  that  it  might  return  unto  the 
body  ;  but  on  the  fourth  day  it  abandoned  this 
expectation  and  left  the  body  to  itself.  Thus 
Martha's  expression  involves  the  idea  that  all 
hope  of  resuscitation  was  past,  and  negatives  the 
interpretation  of  Meyer  that  her  language  in 
verse  23  implies  her  hope  of  a  present  resurrec- 
tion.— Said  I  not  unto  thee.  The  reference 
is  probably  to  the  message  sent  to  the  sisters  as 
reported  in  verse  4. — If  thou  Avouldst  be- 
lieve, thou  shouldst  see  the  glory  of  God. 
The  faith  of  the  sisters  was  to  be  displayed,  not 
in  any  definite  expectation  of  the  work  which 
their  Lord  was  about  to  accomplish,  but  in  obe- 
dience to  his  directions ;   and   in  fact  Martha 


tacitly  withdraws  her  remonstrance,  and  the 
stone  is  rolled  away  from  the  grave.  The  per- 
formance of  the  miracle  was  itself  dependent  on 
the  fulfillment  of  the  condition,  If  thou  wouldst 
believe.  The  New  Testament  throughout  treats 
faith  as  the  power  of  moral  and  spiritual  discern- 
ment, and  therefore  the  fundamental  condition 
of  receiving  the  divine  blessing.  "To  unbe- 
lieving Martha,  Jesus  could  no  more  have  re- 
stored the  dead  brother,  than  to  the  unbelieving 
Jairus  his  child  (Lute  8  :  so),  or  to  the  widow  of 
Nain  her  son,  if  her  attitude  toward  his  com- 
passion and  his  injunction  'Weep  not'  (Luke 
1:13),  had  been  one  of  unbelief." — {Meyer.)  Ob- 
serve the  order  in  which  Christ  put  seeing  and 
believing.  Men  are  always  desirous  to  see  in 
order  to  believe.  Martha  is  called  upon  to  give 
an  example  of  the  contrary  course:  to  believe 
that  she  may  see. 

41,  43.  They  took  away  therefore  the 
stone.  The  words  where  the  dead  man  was  laid 
are  wanting  in  the  best  manuscripts. — And 
Jesus  lifted  up  his  eyes.  Toward  heaven ; 
not  because  God  is  in  heaven  more  truly  than 
upon  earth  (ps.  139 : 7-12),  but  because  the  visible 
heaven  is  ever  suggestive  to  the  human  mind  of 
the  invisible  God ;  and  Jesus  thus  quickened  his 
own  faith  in  the  Father,  as  we  may  well  do.  He 
prayed  toward  the  heavens  as  the  devout  Jew 
prayed  toward  the  temple  (1  Kings  8 :  30 ;  Dan.  6 :  10). — 
Father,  I  thank  thee  that  thou  hast 
heard  me.  It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose,  as 
Alford  does,  a  reference  to  some  previously 
uttered  prayer,  in  Perea,  for  example,  when  the 
message  respecting  Lazarus's  sickness  was 
brought  to  Jesus.  The  language  is  that  of  the 
assurance  of  faith — faith  in  a  God  who  hears  the 
desire  before  it  is  expressed  in  prayer,  who 
teaches  the  believing  soul  how  and  for  what  to 
pray,  and  who  thus  continually  answers  our 
prayers  by  anticipation.  Christ  regards  his 
prayer  as  answered  before  it  is  presented. — And 
I  knew  that  thou  hearest  me  always. 
Alike  when  the  prayer  is  granted  and  when  it  is 
denied  ;  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus  and  in  the  agony 
in  Gethsemane.  God  hears  us  when  his  provi- 
dence says  No  to  our  petition  none  the  less  than 
when  it  says  Yes.  The  true  Christian's  faith, 
like  Christ's  faith,  rests  not  on  the  answer  but  on 
the  direct  personal  consciousness  of  spiritual 
communion  with  God. — But  because  of  the 
people  which  stand  by  I  said  it.  Thus 
Christ  on  occasion  violates  the  letter  of  his  own 


Oil.  XL] 


JOHN. 


145 


43  And  when  he  thus  had  spoken,  he  cried  with  a 
loud  voice,  Lazarus,  come  torth. 

44  And "  he  that  was  dead  came  forth,  bound  hand 


and  foot  with  graveclothes  ;  and  his  face  °  was  bound 
about  with  a  napkin.  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Loose 
liim,  and  let  hiiu  go. 


n  1  Kings  17  :  22  ;  2  Kings  4  :  34,  35  ;  Luke  7  :  14, 15  ;  Acts  20  :  9-12  .  . .  .  o  cli.  20  :  7. 


rule  which  prohibits  men  to  pray  "  that  they 
may  be  seen  of  men"  (Matt.  6  :  5,  6),  just  as  in 
Gethsemane  he  seemed  to  violate  the  letter  of 
his  rule  against  repetitions  in  prayer  (comp.  Matt. 
«  :  7  witii  Matt.  26 :  44).  Here  his  prayer  was  public 
in  order  that  men  might  know  that  he  did  pray, 
and  that  his  resurrection  power  was  not  his 
own  but  was  given  to  him  by  his  Father,  and 
thus  might  glorify  not  him,  but  the  Father  in 
him. — That  they  may  have  faith  that  thou 
hast  sent  me.  Not  merely  that  they  might 
l>elieve  intellectually  that  he  was  a  messenger  or 
representative  sent  by  the  Father,  but  that  their 
thoughts  might  be  turned  from  him,  who  was 
but  the  instrument,  the  voice  of  God,  to  the 
in\isible  Father  himself,  who  spoke  in  him  and 
■wrought  through  him.  This  prayer  of  thanks- 
giving is  in  instructive  contrast  with  the  prayer 
of  Elijah  when  he  raised  the  dead  (i  Kings  n  -.  20, 21). 
Th*e  was  the  earnestness  of  an  anxious  faith ; 
"here  is  the  assurance  of  a  restful  faith  ;  there 
the  importunity  of  request  intensified  by  a  fear 
of  denial ;  here  the  calmness  of  thanksgiving 
already  assured  of  a  favorable  response.  The 
simple  grandeur  of  this  prayer  has  not  prevented 
it  from  being  criticised  as  artificial  (Supernatural 
Religion),  "a  show  prayer"  (Weisse),  "a  sham 
prayer"  (Baiir).  If  prayer  veere  only  petition 
there  would  be  ground  for  this  criticism  ;  but  if 
prayer  is  the  frank  and  free  communion  of  the 
soul  with  its  Father,  there  is  none.  It  will  seem 
artificial  only  to  those  who  are  unable  to  compre- 
hend the  filial  relation  between  a  Son  and  his 
heavenly  Father. 

43,  44.  He  cried  with  a  loud  voice. 
The  previous  prayer  had  been  spoken  in'  a  sub- 
dued voice  ;  apparently,  this  is  implied  by  the 
suggested  contrast,  was  only  heard  in  Christ's 
immediate  vicinity.  The  others  knew  that  he 
was  praying,  and  thus  recognized  the  miracle  as 
a  result  of  his  appeal  to  his  Father ;  but  they  did 
not  hear  the  words  of  the  prayer.  The  "loud 
voice"  was  a  type,  a  suggestion  of  that  voice 
like  the  sound  of  many  waters  (Rev.  1 :  15),  at  which 
all  who  are  in  their  graves  shall  come  forth 
(John  5 :  28 ;  1  Thess.  4 :  Hi). — Lazarus,  come  forth. 
Literally  ITere!  out!  "The  simplicity  of  these 
two  words,  are  in  glorious  contrast  with  their 
efficacy."— (G!^ofZe^)— And  he  that  had  been 
dead  came  forth,  bound  hand  and  foot 
with  grave-clothes.  Literally  swathing -hands 
{■xitoia).  The  supposition  of  Chrysostom,  Light- 
foot  and  others  that  this  coming  forth  bound 
necessitated  a  new  miracle  is  entirely  unneces- 


sary. It  was  the  Jewish  custom  to  wrap  the 
dead  comparatively  loosely  in  a  winding  sheet 
or  shroud,  which  weald  have  impeded  though 
not  prevented  arising  and  walking.  The  exact 
nature  of  the  swathing-bands  does  not  appear 
to  be  known.  The  word  occurs  nowhere  else  in 
the  N.  T.  There  is,  however,  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  the  limbs  were  so  tightly  bound  that 
motion  would  be  impossible.  The  same  word  is 
used  in  classic  literature  to  signify  a  flounce 
worn  about  the  bottom  of  the  dress  of  the  living. 
The  accompanying  cut,  which  in  its  representa- 
tion of  the  tomb  and  grave-clothes,  is  produced 
from  a  careful  study  of  the  best  archaeological 
authorities,  illustrates  the  probable  appearance  of 
Lazarus  better  than  descriptive  words  could  do. — 
His  face  was  bound  about  with  a  napkin. 
A  handkerchief ;  probably,  as  sometimes  with  us, 
to  prevent  the  falling  of  the  lower  jaw. — Loose 
him  and  let  him  go.  Christ  gives  them  some- 
thing to  do.  This  is  partly  to  recall  them  from 
their  speechless  and  dazed  astonishment,  partly 
to  prevent  the  too  great  and  dangerous  revulsion 
of  feeling,  partly  because  he  has  done  his  work 
and  would  bid  them  to  do  what  in  them  lies  to 
be  sharers  with  him  in  the  restoration  of  the  loved 
one  to  life  and  liberty.  In  this  is  a  moral  sig- 
nificance ;  we  cannot  raise  the  spiritually  dead ; 
but  we  can  bring  Christ  to  their  grave  by  our 
prayers,  and  we  can  aid  in  their  perfect  liberation 
when  the  divine  voice  has  called  them  from  their 
sleep  of  death. 

Note  on  the  Resurrection  of  Lazarus. — 
This  miracle  is  recorded  only  by  John.  Why  ? 
It  was  not  only  the  climax  of  all  Christ's  wonder- 
ful works,  but  it  also  led  directly  on  the  one 
hand  to  the  triumphal  procession  into  Jerusa- 
lem, which  is  recorded  by  all,  and  on  the  other 
to  the  final  plans  for  Christ's  arrest  and  cruci- 
fixion. Several  explanations  have  been  sug- 
gested for  the  silence  of  the  synoptists :  (1)  That 
the  miracle  aroused  hostility  to  Lazarus  and  his 
sisters,  and  involved  them  in  danger  (ch.  12 :  10), 
and  that  therefore  all  mention  of  it  was  omitted 
{Godet,  Olshcmsen).  But  this  hostility  could 
hardly  have  continued  to  threaten  any  real  danger 
to  Lazarus  for  twenty-five  or  thirty  years ;  and  if 
it  did,  we  can  hardly  think  that  he  or  his  sisters 
would  have  shrunk  from  being  designated  as 
living  witnesses  to  the  resurrection  power  of 
their  Lord.  They  would  rather  have  gloried  in 
being  permitted  to  suffer  for  him.  (2)  That  the 
narration  of  the  resurrection  would  have  made 
the  household   "the  focus  of    an  intense  and 


146 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XL 


irreverent  curiosity  "  {Farrar).  But  it  would  also 
have  made  them  the  focus  of  an  intense  and 
reverent  desire  to  know  something  with  greater 
certainty  respecting  Jesus  and  his  work.  And 
if  the  miracle  were  wrought  for  the  glory  of  God, 
to  keep  silence  respecting  it  was  to  weaken  if 
not  to  destroy  its  intended  efEeet.  (3)  That  the 
Synoptists  confine  themselves  to  a  narrative  of 
Christ's  Galilean  ministry  and  exclude  all  the 
events  in  Judea  prior  to  the  Passion  week  {Meyer). 
But  this  does  not  explain  the  omission  of  this 
miracle ;  it  simply  reiterates  the  fact,  and  leaves 
the  perplexing  problem  unsolved.     Why  should 


the  Synoptists  avoid  all  mention  of  miracles  and. 
teachings  in  Judea,  especially  one  so  notable  as 
this  ?  I  agree  with  Trench  in  saying  that  to  this, 
question  it  is  now  difficult  to  find  a  satisfactory 
answer.  Possibly  Peter,  from  whom  Mark  is. 
believed  to  have  derived  all  his  information,  and 
Matthew  were  not  present,  and  each  may  have- 
limited  himself  to  facts  actually  witnessed  by 
them.  This  still  leaves  Luke's  omission  of  the- 
miracle  unexplained. 

The  significance  of  this  miracle  as  an  evidence 
of  Christ's  divine  character,  authority  and  mis- 
sion has  always  been  felt,  even  by  the  more 


KESORKECTION   OF  LAZAKUS. 


resolute  unbelievers  in  historic  Christianity. 
Thus  Spinoza  declared  that  "could  he  have 
persuaded  himself  of  the  truth  of  the  raising  of 
Lazarus,  he  would  have  broken  in  pieces  his 
whole  system,  and  would  have  embraced  with- 
out repugnance  the  ordinary  faith  of  Christians." 
Various  rationalistic  explanations  have  been  at- 
tempted, of  which  the  chief  are  the  following : 
(1)  The  mythical  (Strausit),  i.  e.,  that  the  story  is 
a  myth  which  grew  up  out  of  some  slight  founda- 
tion, assumed  its  present  form  in  the  second  or 
third  century,  and  then  was  embodied  in  this 
narrative  by  an  ecclesiastical  forger,  who  used 


John's  name  to  give  sanction  to  his  story.  (2) 
That  the  story  was  created  by  the  writer  for  the 
purpose  of  illustrating  the  truth  that  Christ  is 
the  resurrection  and  the  life,  and  that  it  was 
developed  by  him  out  of  some  conversation  of 
Jesus,  or  perhaps  out  of  the  parable  of  Lazarus 
and  the  rich  man,  or  possibly  out  of  some  inci- 
dent in  the  life  of  Lazarus.  It  is  even  suggested 
that  Nain  is  an  abbre-viation  of  Bethany,  and  that, 
the  narratives  of  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus  and 
of  the  widow  of  Nain's  son  have  a  common  origin. 
(Schenkel).  To  such  straits  is  naturalism  reduced 
in  dealing  with  the  miraculous.     (3)  That  the- 


Ch.  XI.] 


JOHN. 


14? 


45  Then  many  of  the  Jews  which  came  to  Mary,  and 
had  seen  p  the  things  which  Jesus  did,  beheved  on  him. 


46  But  some  of  them  went  their  ways  to  the  Phari- 
sees, and  told  them  what  things  Jesus  had  done. 


p  chaps.  2  :  S3  ;  10  :  41,  43  ;  12  :  11, 18. 


death  of  Lazarus  was  apparent,  not  real ;  that 
the  resurrection  was  a  fraud  contrived  by  the 
friends  of  Jesus  in  order  to  give  eclat  to  his 
anticipated  entry  into  Jerusalem,  and  that  to  this 
fraud  he  lent  himself,  in  a  moment  of  intense 
fanatical  enthusiasm  {Beiian).  The  various  ex- 
planations are  stated  more  in  detail  by  Meyer, 
but  may  all  be  reduced  to  these  three  :  a  denial 
that  John  wrote  the  account ;  a  suggestion  that 
he  invented  it,  building  on  a  very  slight  founda- 
tion ;  and  a  suspicion  that  it  was  a  fraud  perpe- 
trated by  Lazarus  and  the  sisters  and  acquiesced 
in  by  Jesus.  The  only  alternative  is  belief  in  the 
miracle.  The  evidence  of  John's  authorship  of 
the  Fourth  Gospel  (see  Introduction)  refutes  the 
first  hj'pothesis ;  the  simplicity  of  the  narrative 
and  the  character  of  John,  the  second  ;  the  char- 
acter of  Christ  himself,  the  third.  The  narrative 
itself  is  neither  ideal  nor  dogmatic,  neither  an 
artistic  picture  nor  a  concealed  argument.  It  is  a 
perfectly  colorless  narrative  of  events  concerning 
which  there  was  no  possible  room  for  mistake. 
The  writer  does  not  draw  from  the  narrative  any 
conclusion ;  he  does  not  say  that  any  miracle 
was  wrought  or  even  that  the  dead  was  raised. 
He  simply  tells  his  readers  what  he  saw  and 
heard,  and  leaves  them  to  draw  their  own  con- 
clusions. He  was  with  Jesus  beyond  Jordan ; 
word  came  to  them  that  Lazarus  was  sick ; 
Jesus  remained  where  he  was  two  days ;  then 
he  told  the  disciples  that  Lazarus  was  dead ; 
when  they  reached  Bethany  they  found  a  scene 
of  mourning ;  the  friends  had  come  according  to 
Jewish  custom  to  console  the  sister's  family ; 
both  sisters  stated  impliedly  and  reproachfully 
that  Lazarus  was  dead ;  when  they  arrived  at 
the  grave,  one  of  them  said  that  he  had  been 
dead  four  days,  and  that  corruption — though 
this  apparently  was  only  her  presumption — had 
already  commenced ;  Christ  directed  the  stone 
to  be  rolled  away,  commanded  in  a  loud  voice, 
"Lazarus,  come  forth,"  and  he  came  forth 
bound  in  his  grave-clothes.  A  scientific  com- 
mission could  not  have  reported  the  facts  with 
more  absolute  impartiality.  The  writer  expresses 
no  opinion  whatever  respecting  the  occurrence. 
This  is  not  the  method  of  an  idealist  who  has 
invented  the  occurrence  for  the  purpose  of 
glorifying  his  Master,  or  of  a  dogmatist  who 
has  written  it  to  prove  a  doctrine  ;  it  is  the  lan- 
guage of  a  pre-eminently  honest,  fair-minded  and 
Impartial  witness.  And  upon  this  narrative  the 
great  mass  of  readers  and  students  have  come 
to  but  one  conclusion — that  to  which  both  friend 
and  foe  came  at  the  time — that  it  was  a  genuine 


resurrection  of  the  dead,  a  great  and  notable 
miracle. 

An  instructive  parallel  may  be  traced  between 
the  experience  of  these  sisters  in  their  sorrow 
and  that  of  many  a  Christian  household  since. 
(1)  The  burden  of  grief.  When  the  sisters  first 
sent  for  Christ  to  come,  he  delayed.  Still  he 
often  delays  to  answer  our  petitions.  The  house 
of  mourning  is  sometimes  a  Christless  house,  not 
only  because  of  our  infirmity  (Psaim  ^^  -.  lo),  but 
also  because  of  his  will.  We,  like  our  Master, 
seem  sometimes  to  be  forsaken  of  our  God  (Matt. 
27  :  46).  (2)  The  aggravation  of  grief.  Both  sisters 
approach  Christ  with  an  "if"  : — "If  thou  hadst 
been  here  my  brother  had  not  died."  But  his 
death  was  not  the  result  of  an  "if,"  but  for  the 
glory  of  God.  There  is  no  "if "  ;  nothing  ever 
happens.  Even  the  cup  which  Judas,  Caiaphas, 
Herod  and  Pilate  mingle  for  Christ  is  the  cup 
which  his  Father  gives  him  (ch.  is :  i4  j  Acts  2 :  23 ; 
4 :  27, 28 ).  (3)  The  sympathy  of  Christ.  The  tears  of 
Jesus  are  a  witness  to  the  breadth  and  depth  of 
the  divine  sympathy.  He  feels  the  anguish  of 
our  jn-esent  sorrow  though  he  stands  by  a  grave 
so  soon  to  be  opened,  perceives  prophetically  the 
resurrection  so  soon  to  take  place,  and  knows 
that  weeping  is  but  for  the  night  and  joy  cometh 
in  the  morning.  See  Heb.  4  :  15, 16.  (4)  The  true 
and  false  conception  of  death.  We  too  often 
imagine,  as  Martha,  the  believer  awaiting  in 
Hades  a  future  resurrection  and  a  remote  resto- 
ration to  life.  Our  hearts  are  dead  because 
buried  in  the  grave  of  our  loved  ones.  To  us 
Christ  declares  here  that  the  believer  never  dies, 
but  steps  at  once  from  the  lower  to  the  higher 
life,  through  the  grave  into  heavenly  companion- 
ship   (Luke  23   :  43;    Phil.  1    :   23).       (5)    The   pOWer    of 

Christ.  This  scene  is  a  witness  to  the  truth  that 
all  the  dead  shall  hear  his  voice  and  come  forth 
in  resurrection.  Death  is  but  a  sleep ;  from  it 
he  will  awaken  all  that  sleep  in  him  (Dan.  12 : 2 ; 

Johu  5  :  21-29  ;  6  :  39  ;  1  Cor.  15  :  26,  54  ;  2  Cor.  4  :  14  ;  Col.  3:4; 
1  Thess.  4  :  14-17;    Rev.  1  :  18 ;    20  :  14).       (6)   A  parable   of 

redemption.  Sin  a  spiritual  death;  Christ  the 
spiritual  life-giver. 


Ch.  11  :  45-57.  THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  MIRACLE.— 
It  produces  faith  in  some  ;  it  intensifies  enmity 
IN  others. — An  unprincipled  man  an  unconscious 
PROPHET.— Christ's  sacrifice  :  vicarious  ;  for  din- 
ners ;   fob  all  people. — Christ  fears  neither  to 

FLEE   from    nob    TO    FACE    DANGER.— FALSE    SEEKING 

FOR  Christ  illustrated. 

45,46.  Many  of  the  Jews  *  *  *  believed 

on  him.     Not  necessarily  were  spiritually  con- 


148 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XL 


47  Then  i  gathered  the  chief  priests  and  the  Phari- 
sees a  council,  and  said,  What'  do  we?  for  this  man 
doeth  many  miracles. 

48  If  we  let  him  thus  alone,  all'  »ien  will  believe  on 
him  :  and  the  Romans  shall  come  and  take  away  both 
our  place  and  nation. 

49  And  one  of  them,  navted^  Caiaphas,  being  the 
high  priest  that  same  year,  said  unto  them,  Ye  know 
nothing  at  all, 


50  Nor  consider  that  it  is"  expedient  for  us,  that  one 
man  should  die  for  the  people,  and  that  the  whole 
nation  perish  not. 

51  And  this  spake  he  not  of  himself:  but  being  high 
priest  that  year,  he  prophesied  that  Jesus  should  die 
for  that  nation  ; 

52  And  not'  for  that  nation  only,  but  that  also  he 
should  gather  together  in  one  the  children  of  God  that 
were  scattered  "  abroad. 


q  Ps.  2  :  2 r  Acts  4  :  16. 


8  cL.  12  :  19 t  ch.  18  :  14  ;  Luke  3:2;  Acts  4  :  6 u  Luke  24  :  46 v  Isa.  49  :  6 ;  Roui.  3  :  29  ;  1  John  2  :  2 

w  ch.  10:16;  Ephes.  2  :  14-17. 


verted.  They  recognized  in  him  a  prophet,  per- 
haps even  the  Messiah. — But  some  of  them 
went  to  the  Pharisees.  But  (adversative) 
marks  the  contrast  between  the  two  classes,  and 
indicates  their  hostile  purpose.  The  term  Phari- 
sees here,  as  frequently  with  John,  indicates  the 
rulers  of  the  Jews,  the  Jewish  hierarchy. 

47,  48.  A  council.  A  meeting  of  the  San- 
hedrim. On  its  constitutional  character  and 
methods  of  procedure,  see  Vol.  I,  p.  398.  Geikie 
gives  us  no  good  reason  for  accepting  his  dog- 
matic statement  that  the  Sanhedrim  had  before 
this  time  been  broken  up  by  Herod. — What  do 
we  ?  for  this  man  doeth  many  miracles. 
Not,  What  shall  we  do  ?  but.  What  are  we  doing  ? 
They  reproach  themselves  for  their  inaction. 
There  is  an  ellipsis  in  the  sentence  ;  the  meaning 
is.  Something  must  be  done,  for  this  man,  etc. 
For  similar  instance  of  perplexity  see  Acts  4  :  IG. 
It  always  exists  where  conscience  gives  a  clear 
command  which  ambition  and  selfishness  refuse 
to  obey. — If  we  let  him  thus  alone.  This 
was  a  causeless  self-reproach ;  for  they  had 
already  condemned  him  without  trial  (ch.  i  -.  30, 
60, 61),  and  determined  to  excommunicate  all  his 
followers  (ch.  9 :  22).  It  indicates  a  purpose  which 
the  speaker  dared  not  put  in  words,  to  proceed 
to  more  extreme  measures. — The  Romans 
shall  come  and  take  aAvay  both  our  place 
and  our  nation.  Our  place,  it  seems  to  me, 
designates  neither  the  city,  the  land,  nor  the 
temple  ;  but  the  office  of  these  rulers.  They 
were  placemen,  and  feared  the  loss  of  their  dig- 
nities and  authority  in  the  utter  overthrow  of 
the  nation,  which  did,  indeed,  subsequently  take 
place.  But  why  should  they  fear  this  from  any 
increase  of  Christ's  popularity  ?  Not,  as  Augus- 
tine interprets,  because  he  would  persuade  all 
men  to  live  peaceful  lives,  and  so  prevent  any 
successful  revolt  against  the  Roman  government. 
In  common  with  all  the  Jews,  they  expected 
in  the  Messiah  a  temporal  king ;  the  people 
had  already  attempted  to  crown  Christ  as  king 
(ch.  6 :  15) ;  the  council  did  not  believe  that  he  was 
the  Messiah,  did  not  believe  that  any  attempt  by 
him  to  emancipate  the  nation  would  succeed ; 
and  yet  his  popularity  was  such,  and  the  popular 
movement  which  they  anticipated  was  likely  to 
be  such,  as  to  provoke  from  the  Romans  the 


destruction  of  what  Uttle  national  life  was  left. 
Their  selfishness  blinded  them  utterly  to  the 
true  nature  of  Christ's  mission. 

49,  .50.  Caiaphas  puts  boldly  into  words 
thoughts  which  others  less  unscrupulous  dared 
not  phrase.  He  overrules  all  scruples,  whether 
those  of  conscience  against  the  murder  of  an 
innocent  man  and  evident  prophet,  or  those  of 
the  Pharisaic  party  against  appealing  to  the 
Roman  government  to  put  a  prophet  to  death, 
which  was  necessary  to  carry  out  their  purpose 
(Matt.  27  :  1, 2,  note).  This  he  docs  by  a  Jesuitical 
casuistry :  It  is  better  that  one  innocent  man 
should  die  than  that  the  nation  should  be  de- 
stroyed. Thus  a  pretended  patriotism  is  made 
to  cover  a  proposed  judicial  murder.  The  argu- 
ment is  that  of  an  unprincipled  poUtlcian :  the 
end  justifies  the  means.  The  signification  here 
and  in  verse  51  of  the  phrase  "high  priest  that 
year'^  is  somewhat  uncertain.  Caiaphas,  the 
son-in-law  of  Annas,  really  held  the  office  from 
A.  D.  27  to  A.  D,  36  or  37.  The  high  priesthood 
was  originally  a  life  office.  It  was  now  bestowed 
and  taken  away  by  the  Romans  at  their  will. 
In  107  years  there  were  twenty-seven  appointees. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  the  language  here  a  sar- 
castic reference  to  the  degenerate  nature  of  the 
office ;  John  refuses  to  give  to  Caiaphas  the 
honor  once  but  no  longer  due  to  the  high  priest- 
hood. Prof.  Fisher  (Beginnings  of  Christianity) 
explains  it  "on  account  of  the  supreme  impor- 
tance which  '  that  year '  of  the  trial  and  cruci- 
fixion of  Jesus  had  in  his  (John's)  mind."  The 
language  of  Caiaphas  here  agrees  with  his  course 
in  Matt.  36  :  63,  67.  He  was  an  unscrupulous, 
vehement,  and  self-seeking  ecclesiastical  poli- 
tician, such  a  leader  as  is  often  produced  by  a 
degenerate  and  turbulent  era. 

51,  52.  The  meaning  of  the  Evangelist  is 
plain.  It  is  not  merely  that  by  accommodation 
a  prophetic  reference  to  Christ's  sacrifice  can 
be  put  upon  the  words  of  Caiaphas,  but  that, 
unwittingly,  he  prophesied  of  that  death  and  its 
signification.  So  Balaam  prophesied  blessing  to 
Israel  despite  himself  (Numb.,  ch. 23).  "He  who 
believed  in  no  angel  or  spirit  was  compelled  to 
be  the  spokesman  of  the  Divine  Word,  even 
when  he  was  plotting  his  death.  Strange  and 
awful  reflection  !    And  yet  so  it  must  be — so 


Ch.  XL] 


JOHN. 


149 


5j  Then  from  that  day  forth  they  took  counsel  to- 
gether "  for  to  put  him  to  death. 

54  Jesus  therefore  walked  no  more  openly  y  amon^ 
the  Jews:  but  went  thence  unto  a  country  near  to  the 
wilderness,  into  a  city  called  Ephraini,^aud  there  con- 
tinued with  his  disciples. 

55  And  »  the  Jews'  passover  was  nigh  at  hand :  and 


many  went  out  of  the  country  up  to  Jerusalem  before 
the  passover,  to  purify  themselves. 

56  Then''  sought  tliev  for  Jesus,  and  spake  among 
themselves,  as  they  siood  in  the  temple,  What  think 
ye,  that  he  will  ncjt  come  to  the  feast  ? 

57  Now  both  the  chiel  priests  and  the  Pharisees  had 
given  a  commandment,  that,  if  any  man  knew  where 
he  were,  he  should  shew  it,  that  they  might  take  him. 


z  Fe.  109  :  4,  5  . . . .  y  chaps.  7:1;  18  :  20 z  2  Sam.  13  :  23 ;  2  Chron.  13  :  19  ....  a  chaps.  2:  13;  5:1;  6:4. .r.b  ver.  8  ;  ch.  6  :  16, 18. 


experience  shows  us  continually  that  it  is.  Our 
words  are  not  our  own ;  we  are  no  lords  over 
them  whatever  we  may  think. ' ' — {Maurice. )  Ob- 
serve the  two  truths  connected  with  the  atone- 
ment here  indicated  :  (1)  that  Jesus  Christ  dies 
for  the  nation  which  by  its  constitutional  rulers 
is  plotting  his  death ;  he  dies  for  sinners,  not  for 
the  righteous  (Rom.  5 :  e-s) ;  (2)  by  his  death  he 
gathers  into  otie,  i.  e.,  into  one  nation  or  king- 
dom (see  Matt.  21 :  43,  note)  the  Children  of  God  from 
every  nation  under  the  heavens  (Matt.  8 :  ii;  John 

10  :  16  ;    n  :  iO,  21  ;    Ephes.  2  :  16-18  ;    Col.  3  :  11  ;    Rev.  S  :  9). 

"The  cross  was  emphatically  a  message  to  man- 
kind, to  all  tribes  and  races  within  the  circle  of 
the  empire  that  had  appointed  this  punishment 
for  rebels  and  slaves.  It  is  a  thought  which  pos- 
sessed the  minds  of  all  the  apostles — of  none 
more  than  St.  John.  The  cross  was  to  do  what 
the  eagle  had  tried  to  do.  It  was  to  bind  men 
in  one  society." — (Maurice.) 

53.  The  speech  of  Caiaphas  was  successful ; 
it  united  Pharisee  and  Sadducee  in  an  agreement 
to  do  luhatever  might  be  necessary  to  compass  the 
death  of  Jesus.  The  effect  of  this  agreement  is 
seen  in  their  subsequent  course  (Matt.  22 :  is,  le,  23 ; 

27  :  1,  2). 

54.  The  site  of  Epbraim  is  involved  in  some 
uncertainty.  The  "wilderness"  probably  desig- 
nates the  wild  uncultivated  hill  country  north- 
east of  Jerusalem,  lying  between  the  central 
towns  and  the  Jordan  valley.  Dr.  Robinson 
identifies  Ephraim  with  the  Ophrah  referred  to 
in  Josh.  18  :  23 ;  1  Sam.  13  :  17,  the  Ephraim  or 
Ephram  referred  to  in  2  Chron.  13  :  19,  and  the 
modern  et-Taiyibeh,  and  Ewald  supposes  it  to 
be  the  same  Ephraim  near  which  occurred  the 
murder  of  Amnon  (2  Sam.  13 :  23).  Taiyibeh  is  four 
or  five  miles  east  of  Bethel  and  sixteen  from 
Jerusalem,  is  situated  on  a  conspicuous  conical 
hill,  and  commands  an  extended  view  over  the 
whole  eastern  slope,  the  valley  of  the  Jordan 
and  the  Dead  Sea.  But  the  identification  with 
Taiyibeh  is  only  hypothetical.  See  Andrew^''  Life 
of  our  Lord,  p.  385.  Christ  must  have  returned 
to  this  place  immediately  after  the  resurrection 
of  Lazarus,  and  his  place  of  retirement  was  evi- 
dently unknown  to  the  public  (ver.  57).  The  "  dis- 
ciples" who  abode  there  with  him  undoubtedly 
included  the  twelve,  but  may  have  also  included 
others.  The  length  of  his  stay  is  uncertain.  If 
the  chronology  which  I  have  adopted  (see  ch.  11, 


Prei.  Note),  be  the  correct  one,  it  could  only  have 
been  for  two  or  three  weeks,  not  five  or  six 
weeks  as  supposed  by  Andrews  and  EUicott.  It 
is  not  improbable  that  the  special  instructions 
concerning  prayer,  reported  by  Luke,  were  given 
during  this  period  of  retirement  (Luke  11 : 1-8 ;  is : 
1-14).  There  is  nothing  in  Luke  to  fix  the  time 
or  place  of  these  instructions ;  but  as  Christ  was 
accustomed  to  draw  his  illustrations  from  cir- 
cumstances and  events  occtirring  about  him,  it 
is  probable  that  at  least  the  parable  of  the  Phari- 
see and  the  publican  was  given  in  or  near  Judea. 
From  Ephraim  Christ  went  up  to  Jerusalem  to 
attend  the  last  Passover,  and  to  his  passion  there. 
See  ch.  12,  Prel.  Note. 

55-57.  Out  of  the  country.  From  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country  :  not  only  from  Pales- 
tine, but  from  remote  provinces  where  the  dis- 
persed Jews  were  scattered.  See  Acts  2  :  9-11.) 
— To  purify  themselves.  No  special  purifi- 
cations were  required  by  the  0.  T.  before  the 
Passover,  but  the  people  were  commanded  to 
purify  themselves  before  any  important  event 
(Gen.  35 :  2 ;  Exod.  19 :  10,  ii),  and  werc  accustomcd  to 
go  through  certain  special  rites  of  purification 
prior  to  the  Passover  (2  chron.  30 :  13-20). — Then 
sought  they  for  Jesus,  etc.  "Verse  56 
graphically  describes  the  restless  curiosity  of 
these  country  people,  who  were  collected  in 
groups  in  the  temple  and  discussing  the  approach- 
ing arrival  of  Jesus." — (Godet.)  His  miracles 
and  teachings  in  Galilee  and  Perea,  and  above  all 
the  resurrection  of  Lazarus,  led  his  friends  and 
quasi  disciples  to  expect  his  immediate  revela- 
tion of  himself  as  the  Messiah  (Luke  19 :  11) ;  while 
the  fact  that  the  Sanhedrim  had  pronounced 
against  him  and  given  orders  for  his  arrest 
coupled  with  his  sudden  disappearance,  led 
others  to  think  that  he  had  fled  from  the  coun- 
try, or  at  least  would  for  the  present  conceal 
himself  (comp.  John  7  :  11,12).  —  But  the  Chief 
priests  and  the  Pharisees,  etc.  (lU  ol  dny. ; 
the  first  y.u\  is  spurious).  This  is  stated  as  an 
explanation  of  the  doubt  of  the  people  whether 
Christ  would  appear  or  no.  Godet's  suggestions 
that  the  order  was  given  to  intimidate  Christ 
and  his  disciples  is  reasonable  ;  for  it  could  not 
have  been  difficult  to  ascertain  Christ's  place  of 
retreat,  and  when  he  emerged  from  it,  and  came 
up  with  peculiar  publicity  to  the  feast,  no  at- 
tempt was  made  to  arrest  him.    According  to  a 


150 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XII. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THEN  Jesus,  six  days  before  the  passover,  came  to 
Bethany,  where '^  Lazarus  was  which  had  been 
■dead,  whom  he  raised  from  the  dead. 
2  There  they  made  him  a  supper,  and  Martha''  served : 


but  Lazarus  was  one  of  them  that  sat  at  the  table  with 
him. 

3  Then^  took  Mary  a  pound  of  ointment  of  spike- 
nard, very  costly,  and  anointed  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and 
wiped  his  feet  with  her  hair:  and  the  house  was  filled 
with  the  odour  of  the  ointment. 


n  ch.  11  :  1,  43 d  Luke  10  :  38-42 . . . .  e  ch.  11  :  2  ;  Matt.  26  :  6,  etc. ;  Mark  14  :  3,  etc. 


Hebrew  tradition,  as  reported  by  Lightfoot,  an 
oflScer  of  the  Sanhedrim,  during  the  forty  days 
preceding  this  Passover,  "  publicly  proclaimed 
that  this  man,  who  by  his  imposture  had  seduced 
the  people,  ought  to  be  stoned,  and  that  any  one 
who  could  say  aught  in  his  defence  was  to  come 
forward  and  speak.  But  no  one  doing  so,  he  was 
hanged  on  the  evening  of  the  Passover."  To 
some  such  pubUc  proclamation  John  here  per- 
haps refers. 

Ch.  12  :  1-11.    ANOINTIN'G   OF   .TESUS   BY   MART.— 

A    COSTLY    EXPRESSION    OF    A    FERVENT    LOVE    IS    NOT 

WASTE. — Hypocrisy  sets  philanthropy  and  piety 
IN  contrast.— None  are  so  deaf  as  they  that  will 

NOT   hear. 

Pkeliminart  Note. — This  anointing  is  not  to 
be  confounded  with  that  of  which  Luke  (7 :  36-50) 
gives  an  account.  The  reasons  for  distinguish- 
ing it  from  that  anointing  I  have  stated  in  the 
preliminary  note  there.  This  anointing  is  not 
mentioned  by  Luke.  It  is  reported  by  Matthew 
(26 : 6-13)  and  Mark  (14  : 3-9).  It  is  true  that  some 
harmonists  have  supposed  two  distinct  anointings 
in  Bethany,  but  that  opinion  is  entertained  by 
very  few  scholars  and  by  none  of  the  modems, 
and  is  not  a  reasonable  hypothesis ;  the  differ- 
ences between  John's  account  and  those  of 
Matthew  and  Mark  are  not  greater  than  might 
have  been  expected  in  accounts  given  by  inde- 
pendent witnesses.  Matthew  and  Mark  say  that 
Mary  anointed  Jesus'  head,  John  that  she 
anointed  Jesus'  feet ;  but  certainly  she  may  have 
anointed  both  the  head  and  the  feet.  The  prin- 
cipal difference  lies  in  the  fact  that  Matthew 
and  Mark  impliedly  place  the  anointing  two  days 
before  the  Paschal  feast  (Matt.  26 : 2 ;  Mark  14  :  1), 
while  John  impliedly  places  it  si&  days  before 
the  feast  (ver.  1).  The  chronology  is  uncertain ; 
some  scholars  adopt  that  of  Matthew  and  Mark 
{Eobi)iso}i,  Geo.  W.  Clark,  Hackett) — others,  that 
of  John  {Townsend,  Andrews,  Alford).  The  former 
of  these, opinions  appears  to  me  the  more  proba- 
ble for  reasons  stated  in  the  note  on  Matthew 
26  :  6-16.  In  such  a  case  as  this,  where  there 
appears  to  be  a  conflict  in  the  chronology  of  the 
evangelists,  neither  of  whom  puts  any  emphasis 
upon  chronological  data  or  gives  what  may 
properly  be  called  a  date,  we  may  reasonably 
allow  the  order  of  events  to  be  determined  by  a 
consideration  of  the  probable  way  in  which  one 
event  leads  on  to  another.     In  this  case  the  dis- 


courses of  Jesus  in  the  temple  and  the  overthrow 
of  the  ambitious  hopes  of  Judas  Iscariot  naturally 
led  to  his  complaint  at  this  anointing,  and  Christ's 
sharp  rebuke  of  his  spirit  here  naturally  led  in 
turn  to  his  final  act  of  treachery.  The  note  of 
time  afforded  by  John  in  verses  1  and  13,  though 
they  certainly  indicate  that  the  anointing  took 
place  prior  to  the  triumphal  procession,  are  not 
conclusive ;  for  verses  3-9  may  be  regarded  as 
parenthetical.  Thus  Dr.  Hackett :  "John  is  the 
only  one  of  the  evangelists  who  speaks  of  the 
Saviour  stopping  at  Bethany  on  the  way  between 
Bethany  and  Jerusalem.  Hence,  this  feast  being 
the  principal  event  which  John  associates  with 
Bethany  during  these  last  days,  he  not  unnatu- 
rally inserts  the  account  of  the  feast  immediately 
after  the  speaking  of  the  arrival  at  Bethany. 
But  having  (so  to  speak)  discharged  his  mind  of 
that  recollection,  he  then  turns  back  and  re- 
sumes the  historical  order,  namely,  that  on  the 
next  day  after  coming  to  Bethany  Jesus  made 
his  public  entry  into  Jerusalem  as  related  by  the 
Synoptists."  We  suppose,  then,  that  after  the 
tarry  in  Ephraim  Christ  came  up  to  the  Passover ; 
stopped  at  Jericho,  where  occurred  the  healing 
of  the  blind  man,  the  conversion  of  Zaccheus, 
and  the  parable  of  the  ten  pounds  (Luke  is :  35  to 
19 :  28) ;  from  Jericho  proceeded  to  Jerusalem, 
stopping  on  the  way  at  Bethany,  where,  perhaps, 
he  spent  the  Sabbath ;  entered  Jerusalem  in 
triumph  on  the  following  day,  and  drove  from 
the  temple  the  traders  (Luke  19 ;  28-48),  and  there 
gave  the  instructions  recorded  more  or  less  by 
all  the  Synoptists,  but  most  fully  by  Matthew 
(chaps.  21  :  12  to  25 :  46) ;  and  thcncc  retreated  to 
Bethany,  where  this  supper,  made  for  him  by 
Martha  and  her  sister  Mary,  led  directly  to  the 
conspiracy  of  Judas  Iscariot  for  his  betraj^al 
(Matt.  26 :  14-16).     Scc  Tabular  Harmony,  page  i5. 

1,2.  Six  days  before  the  passover.  This 
note  of  time  is  quite  inconclusive,  because  it 
is  uncertain  whether  the  day  of  Christ's  arrival 
and  the  first  day  of  the  passover  should  be  ex- 
cluded or  included,  or  one  should  be  excluded 
and  the  other  included,  and  also  because  it  is 
uncertain  on  which  day  of  the  month  the  pass- 
over  is  to  be  considered  as  having  begun.  For 
various  chronological  views,  see  Andrews'  Life 
of  our  Lord,  page  397.  The  most  probable 
hypothesis,  and  the  one  commonly  accepted, 
makes  Christ  arrive  at  Bethany  on  Friday  night, 
spending  there  the  Sabbath  and  going  on  to 


Oh.  XII.] 


JOHN. 


151 


Jerusalem  on  the  following  day,  the  first  day  of 
the  week. — Came  to  Bethany.  A  well  known 
village  about  fifteen  stadia  (ch.  ii  :  is),  that  is, 
about  a  mile  and  a  half,  east  of  Jerusalem,  on  the 
eastern  slope  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  not  far  from 
the  point  at  which  the  road  to  Jericho  begins  its 
more  sudden  descent  toward  the  valley.  Fruit 
and  other  trees  growing  around — olive,  almond, 
and  oak — give  the  spot  an  air  of  seclusion  and 
repose.  It  is  not  mentioned  in  the  O.  T.,  but  is 
intimately  associated  with  the  life  of  our  Lord. 


Here  Lazarus  was  raised  from  the  dead ;  here 
Christ  found  a  secluded  retreat  and  the  refresh- 
ment of  friendship  during  the  stormy  periods 
of  his  ministry  in  Jerusalem  ;  thence  he  ascended 
when  the  cloud  received  him  from  the  side  of 
his  disciples.  The  present  village,  El-Azarlyeh, 
is  a  ruinous  and  wretched  hamlet  of  some  twenty 
families,  the  inhabitants  of  which  display  even 
less  than  the  ordinary  Eastern  thrift  and  indus- 
try.— They  made  him  a  supper.  The  word 
supper  (JfiTTvos)  represents  the  chief  meal  of  the 


Jews  and  also  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  taken 
at  evening  after  the  labors  of  the  day  were  over, 
and  sometimes  prolonged  into  the  night.  The 
same  word  is  sometimes  used  to  signify  a  ban- 
quet    or    feast     (Matt.  23  :  6  -,   Mark  6  :  21  ;    Luke  14  ;  12  ; 

20 :  46 ;  Rev.  19 :  o).  Who  made  the  supper  is  not 
directly  stated,  by  either  John  or  the  other 
Evangelists.     It  was  in  the  house  of  one  Simon 

the  leper  (Matt.  26  :  6;   Mark  14  :  3).      Godct  SUppOSCS 

that  he  was  a  leper  who  had  been  healed  by 
Jesus  and  who  claimed  the  privilege  of  enter- 
taining, in  the  name  of  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Bethany,  Jesus,  who  had  conferred  on  their 
town  so  great  a  favor  by  raising  Lazarus  from 
the  dead.  This  seems  to  me  a  wild  hypothesis 
on  the  part  of  a  very  sober  and  cautious  scholar. 
The  fact  that  Martha  served  is  at  least  an  indi- 
cation that  the  supper  was  given  at  the  house  of 
Martha  and  Mary,  who  were  certainly  Christ's 


most  intimate  friends  in  the  village.  There  is 
nothing  to  indicate  that  Simon  was  present  or 
had  been  cured.  The  common  hypothesis  is 
more  reasonable,  that  he  was  the  father  of  the 
sisters,  or  possibly  the  husband  of  Martha,  and 
was  either  dead  or  through  his  leprosy  exiled 
from  his  home,  and  that  the  house  is  described 
by  the  two  Synoptists  as  his  house  because  he 
was  a  well-known  resident,  and  also  because  they 
wished  to  avoid  concentrating  the  attention  of 
the  Pharisees,  who  had  already  determined  upon 
the  death  of  Lazarus,  on  him  and  his  two  sisters. 
They  are  not  mentioned  by  name  in  the  Synop- 
tical narratives.  The  difference  in  character 
between  Martha  and  Mary,  as  indicated  both  by 
their  conduct  here  and  the  incident  narrated  in 
Luke  10  :  o8-i2,  is  one  of  those  incidental  coin- 
cidences which  attest  the  historic  truth  of  the 
Gospels. 


15-2 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XIL 


4  Then   saith   one   of  his  disciples,   Judas  Iscariot, 
Simon  s  san^  which  should  betray  him, 

5  Why  was  not  this  ointment  sold  tor  three  hundred 
pence,  and  given  to  the  poor  ? 


6  This  he  said,  not  that  he  cared  for  the  poor  •  but 
because  he  was  a  thief,f  and  hade  the  bag,  and  bare 
what  was  put  therein. 


f  2  Kings  5  :  20-27  ;  Ps.  50  :  IS  . 


ANOINTING   OF   FEET. 

3-6.  A  pound  of  ointment  of  spikenard. 

Mark  and  John  both  add  a  word  characterizing 
this  ointment,  which  is  not  elsewhere  found,  in 
either  Biblical  or  classic  Greek  (Ttmrty.i]:).  Com- 
mentators disagree  in  their  translation  of  this 
word,  and  the  English  translators  seem  to  have 
avoided  the  difflculty  by  omitting  it  altogether. 
Some  scholars  derive  it  from  a  Greek  verb  {nirm) 
meaning  to  drink,  and  suppose  it  to  indicate 
that  the  ointment  was  liquid,  perhaps  drinkable. 
By  other  scholars  it  is  derived  from  the  verb 
(TttiiTsiio)  to  believe,  and  is  supposed  to  signify  a 
trustworthy  or  a  reliable  ointment ;  that  is,  one 
that  was  pure  or  unadulterated.  This  is  the 
more  probable  meaning.  Spikenard  was  liable 
to  all  kinds  of  adulteration.  Pliny  enumerates 
nine  plants  with  which  it  might  be  mixed  in  pre- 


paring it  for  the  market.     The 
spikenard  appears  to  have  been 
procured  from  an  Indian  plant 
of  the  family  of  vala-iana,  and 
to  have  been  imported  from  India 
by  way  of  Arabia.    It  was  highly 
prized     among     the     ancients. 
Horace,   writing  to  Virgil,  asks 
Ills  guests  to  bring  as  contribu- 
tion to  the  feast  a  little  spike- 
nard, and  by  way  of  equivalent 
he  would  match  it  with  a  cask  of 
wine.     The  use  of  fragrant  oils 
and  ointments  were  very  com- 
mon among  the    ancients,   who 
anointed    themselves    twice    or 
three  times  a  day  in  order  that  the 
delicious  fragrance  might  not  be 
dissipated.    The  wealthier  classes 
carried  their  ointments  and  per- 
fumes in  small  boxes  of  costly 
material  and  beautiful  workman- 
ship.    This   ointment   was   con- 
tained in  an  alabaster  box  (Matt. 
26 : 7 ;  Mark  14  :  s).     This  box  Mary 
broke,  pouring  the  ointment  first 
on  Christ's  head  and  then  on  his 
feet.     There  is  doubt  as  to  the 
meaning  of  the  expression  "she 
brake  the  box;"  some  suppose 
that  she  simply  broke  the  seal ; 
others,  that  she  broke  off  the 
neck  of  the  box  with  a  sharp 
blow,  so  pouring  out  the  whole 
ointment  as  an  offering  to  Christ, 
a  very  little  of  which  would  have 
sufficed  for  the  purpose  of  an  ordinary  anointing. 
For  an  illustration  of  alabaster  boxes  see  Luke 
7  :  38,  note. — Very  costly.     A  pound  was  an 
enormous  quantity  to  lavish  on  a  single  anointing. 
— Wiped  his  feet  with  her  hair.    So  did  the 
woman  M'ho  was  a  sinner  (Luke  7  :  ss).     But  there 
is  this  characteristic  difference  between  the  two 
cases :  the  unknown  woman  in  Luke  washed  his 
feet  with  her  tears,  and  it  was  the  tears  which 
she  wiped  off  with  her  hair.     Here  there  are  no 
tears  ;  all  is  joy  and  gladness. — And  the  house 
Avas  filled  Avith  the  odor  of  the  ointment. 
The  service  rendered  to  Christ  did  not  stop  Avith 
him  alone.     Such  service  never  does  ;  it  becomes 
fragrant  to  all  who  are  within  the  reach  of  its 
influence. — One  of  his  disciples.     The  objec- 
tion was  started  by  Judas  Iscariot.    The  others. 


Ch.  XII.] 


JOHN. 


153 


7  Then  said  Jesus,  Let  her  alone:  against  the  day  of 
my  buryiniT  hath  she  kept  this. 

8  For'"  the  poor  always  ye  have  with  you  ?  but'  me 
ye  have  not  always. 


9  Much  people  of  the  Jews  therefore  knew  that  he 
was  there :  and  they  came  not  for  Jesus'  sake  only,  but 
that  they  might  see  Lazarus  also,  whom  lie  had  raised 
from  the  dead. 


h  Deut.  15  :  11 ;  Matt.  26  :  11 ;  Mark  14  :  1 i  verse  35 ;  chaps.  8  :  21  ;  13  :  33  ;  16  : 


however,  shared  this  feeling ;  they  too  had  indig- 
nation (Matt.  26 : 8;  Mark  18 : 4),  aud  regarded  Mary's 
action  as  wasteful.  To  prosaic  natures  the  ex- 
pression of  love  always  seems  a  waste,  but  to 
ardent  natures  nothing  seems  too  costly  to  ex- 
press the  enthusiasm  of  love. — For  three  hun- 
dred denarii.  The  denarius,  or,  as  the  word  is 
translated  in  the  New  Testament,  penny,  was  a 
coin  of  about  seventeen  cents  in  value,  but  at 
that  time  was  a  day's  wages  (.Matt.  20 :  10).  Thus, 
this  offering  of  Mary  was  practically  equivalent 
to  an  ofEeriug  in  our  time  of  three  hundred  dol- 
lars.— And  given  to  the  poor.  A  pretended 
regard  for  the  poor  is  often  made  a  cloak  foi*  an 
attack  upon  the  Christian  church,  and  especially 
upon  Christian  worship.  In  the  case  of  Judas, 
as  in  many  other  cases,  it  was  but  a  cover  for  a 
more  sordid  motive,  but  it  served  its  purpose. — 
But  because  he  had  the  bag.  Possibly  a fcox; 
more  probably  a  money  bag  or  purse  (Latin,  mc- 
cuius),  in  which  the  funds 
of  Jesus  and  his  disciples 
were  carried.  These  funds 
were  doubtless  small  and 
were  made  up  of  gifts  from 

other    disciples     (Luke  8  : 3). 

This  is  implied  by  the  lan- 
guage here,  "  what  was  put 
therein,"  signifying  liter- 
ally what  had  been  cast  therein ;  that  is,  by 
friends  of  Jesus. — And  bare  what  was  put 
therein.  The  original  is  capable  of  being  trans- 
lated '■'■purloined  what  was  put  therein."  This 
is  the  significance  given  to  it  by  most  of  the 
scholars  {Jlci/er,  Aljhnl,  Be  Wette,  Godet). 

7,  8.  If  we  combine  the  reports  of  the  three 
Evangelists,  it  will  appear  that  Christ's  words 
were  substantially  as  follows:  "Let  her  alone. 
Why  trouble  ye  the  woman '?  for  she  hath 
wrought  a  good  work  upon  me ;  she  hath 
done  what  she  could  ;  against  the  day  of  my 
burying  hath  she  kept  this,  and  is  come  before- 
hand to  anoint  my  body  for  the  burial.  The 
poor  always  ye  have  with  you,  and  whensoever 
ye  will  ye  may  do  them  good ;  but  me  ye  have 
not  always."  Let  her  alone  is  the  language  of 
sharp  rebuke.  Christ  was  indignant  at  the 
hypocrisy  which  made  a  pretended  consideration 
of  the  poor  an  excuse  for  attacking  and  con- 
demning an  act  of  love  towards  himself.  W?)y 
trouble  ye  the  loonian  ?  indicates  that  Mary  was 
herself  abashed  and  downcast  by  the  criticism  of 
the  twelve.  Perhaps,  as  Maurice  says,  "  she  could 
not  herself  have  answered  Judas  Iscariot's  com- 


ANCrENT   MONEY    BAG. 


plaining  question."  For  she  hath  wrought  a  good 
work  upon  me,  is  a  strong  expression  of  approba- 
tion of  an  act  which  was  service  only  as  it  was 
an  expression  of  love.  The  word  rendered  good 
is  literally  beautiful ;  but  with  the  Greeks,  who 
were  an  aesthetic  race,  the  word  expressive  of 
moral  beauty  was  one  of  the  highest  commenda- 
tion. To  express  love  to  Christ  is  to  render  a 
good  work  unto  Christ.  She  hath  done  what  she 
could,  commends  Mary  in  the  same  spirit  in  which 
the  poor  widow  was  commended  (Mark  12 ;  44). 
Whether  her  act  was  wise  or  not  was  not  to  be 
questioned.  It  was  the  outpouring  of  a  heart 
full  of  love,  and  there  is  no  condemnation  to 
those  who  are  thus  in  Christ  Jesus.  There  is 
some  question  respecting  the  reading  of  the 
phrase  Against  the  day  of  my  burying  hath  she 
kept  this.  Some  critics  {Meyer,  Alford)  under- 
stand its  meaning  to  be,  Against  the  day  of  my 
burying  let  her  preserve  this.  And  Meyer  supposes 
that  only  a  part  of  the  ointment  was  used  in  the 
anointing,  and  that  Christ  expresses  the  idea 
that  the  rest  is  not  to  be  sold  for  the  poor,  but 
to  be  preserved  to  complete  Mary's  unfinished 
act.  But  there  is  no  question  respecting  the 
reading  of  the  text  in  Matthew.  That  the  anoint- 
ing was  treated  by  Christ  as  a  prophetic  act  is 
more  in  accordance  both  with  the  reports  of  the 
other  Evangelists  and  with  the  spirit  of  the 
entire  narrative.  Christ's  declaration  then  is, 
not  that  Mary  should  reserve  the  rest  of  the  oint- 
■ment  for  the  anointing  of  his  corpse,  nor  that 
she  had  deliberately  and  intentionally  preserved 
it  for  a  prophetic  anointing,  but  that  it  was  in 
accordance  with  a  divme  purpose  that  she  had 
poured  it  upon  him  while  he  lived.  His  body 
was  not  anointed  at  the  time  of  his  death,  the 
completion  of  the  funeral  honors  being  pre- 
vented by  his  resurrection  (Mark  is :  1, 2).  The 
poor  always  ye  have  with  you,  and  whensoever  ye  will 
ye  may  do  them  good,  is  founded  upon  the  great 
princii^le  that  philanthropy  needs  no  special  emo- 
tion, only  opportunity,  and  that  is  never  wanting ; 
while  the  expression  of  love  can  only  be  made 
when  the  love  itself  burns  ardently  in  the  heart, 
and  that  must  of  necessity  be  occasional  and 
exceptional  ;  in  other  words,  philanthropy  may 
always  exhibit  itself  in  acts  of  charit}',  but  emo- 
tion can  only  occasionally  exhibit  itself  in  acts 
of  reverence  and  love.  Matthew  and  Mark  add 
the  declaration  by  Christ,  that  Wheresoever  this 
Gospel  shall  be  preached  in  the  whole  irorld  over, 
shall  also  this  that  this  woman  hath  done  be  told  for 
a  memorial  for  her.    See  Matt.  26  :  13,  note. 


154 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XII. 


lo  But  the  chief  priests  consulted  that  they  might 
put  Lazarus  also  J  to  death  ; 

n  Because  that  ^  by  reason  of  him  many  of  the  Jews 
went  away,  and  believed  on  Jesus. 

12  On '  the  next  day  much  people  that  were  come  to 
the  feast,  when  they  heard  that  Jesus  was  coming  to 
Jerusalem, 

13  Took  branches  of  palm  trees,  and  went  forth  to 
meet  him,  and  cried,'"  Hosanna  !  Blessed  is  the  King 
of  Israel  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord. 

14  And  Jesus,  when  he  had  found  a  young  ass,  sat 
thereon  ;  as  it  is"  written, 

15  Fear  not,  daughter  of  Sion;  behold,  thy  King 
cometh,  sitting  on  an  ass's  colt. 

16  These  things  °  understood  not  his  disciples  at  the 
first :  but  when  Jesus  was  glorified,?  then  remembered  1 


they  that  these  things  were  written  of  him,  and  i/iai 
they  had  done  these  things  unto  him. 

17  The  people  therefore  that  was  with  him  when  he 
called  Lazarus  out  of  his  grave,  and  raised  him  from 
the  dead,  bare  record. 

18  Forr  this  cause  the  people  also  met  him,  for  that 
they  heard  that  he  had  done  this  miracle. 

19  The  Pharisees  therefore  said  among  themselves, 
Perceive  ^  ye  how  ye  prevail  nothing  ?  behold,  the 
world  is  gone  after  him. 

20  And  there  were  certain' Greeks  among  them  that" 
came  up  to  worship  at  the  feast : 

21  The  same  came  therefore  to"  Philip,  which  was 
of  Bethsaida  of  Galilee,  and  desired  him,  saying,  Sir, 
we  would  see  Jesus, 

22  Philip  cometh  and  telleth  Andrew :  and  again 
Andrew  and  Philip  tell  Jesus. 


j  Luke  16  :  31....k  verse  18;  ch.  11  :45....I  Matt.  21  :  8,  etc. ;   Mark  11  :  8,  etc.  ;  Luke  19  :  36,  etc m  Ps.  118  :  25,  26  ...n  Zech.  9  •  9 

0  Luke  18  :  34 p  ch.  7  :  39 q  ch.  14  :  26 r  verse  11 s  ch.  11  :  47,  48 t  Acts  17  :  4;   Rom.  1  ;  16 u  1  Kings  8  :  41,42 

...  .V  ch.  1  :  44. 


9-11.  Much  people  of  the  Jews  there- 
fore knew  that  he  Avas  there.  This  is  an 
indicatiou  that  he  tarried  there  at  least  over  one 
day,  probably  the  Sabbath  preceding  the  passion. 
See  Prel.  Note.— But  that  they  might  see 
Ijazarus  also.  They  were  drawn  together  by 
curiosity.— But  the  chief  priests  consulted 
that  they  might  put  Lazarus  to  death. 
That  is,  they  were  at  this  time  consulting.  While 
the  people  were  drawn  to  Lazarus  by  euriositj', 
and  others  were  led  by  the  story  of  his  resur- 
rection, confirmed  by  himself,  to  believe  that 
Jesus  was  the  Messiah,  the  chief  priests  in  Jeru- 
salem were  consulting  how  they  might  get  rid 
both  of  Jesus  and  of  the  witness  to  his  divine 
power.  Thus  they  demonstrate  the  truth  of 
Christ's  saying,  "  Neither  will  they  believe  though 
one  rose  from  the  dead  "  (Luke  le :  31). — Believed 
on  Jesus.  That  is,  they  believed  that  he  was 
the  Messiah.  Nor  was  this  a  mere  intellectual 
opinion.  It  involved  attachment  to  Christ  and 
hope  in  him  ;  a  looking  forward  to  a  revelation  of 
himself  in  some  miraculous  and  decisive  display 
of  divine  power  against  the  Romans.  The  period 
was  one  of  a  brief  but  great  popularity,  which 
accounts  for  the  triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem, 
and  the  Pharisees'  fear  of  the  people  which  kept 
them  from  openly  arresting  Christ  during  his 
teaching  in  the  temple  on  the  eventful  days  that 
immediately  followed. 

Ch.  12:  13-18.  The  triumphal  entry 
INTO  Jerusalem.  Comp.  Matt.  21  :  1-17 ;  Mark 
11  :  1-11 ;  Luke  19  :  29^4.  The  account  is  on 
the  whole  the  fullest  in  Luke.  See  notes  there. 
The  statement  that  some  from  Jerusalem  took 
palm  branches  and  came  out  to  meet  the  proces- 
sion as  it  approached  the  city  is  peculiar  to  John. 
So  also  is  his  account  of  the  effect  produced  on 
the  Pharisees  (ver.  19).  The  statement  in  Luke 
19  :  89,  that  some  of  the  Pharisees  called  on 
Jesus  to  rebuke  his  disciples  is  equally  indicative 
of  their  feeling,  which  was  one  of  intense  though 
suppressed  hostility.      The  next  day,   verse  12, 


might  mean  the  day  after  the  anointing,  but  I 
believe  means  the  day  after  the  visit  to  Bethany, 
the  account  of  the  anointing  being  parenthetical. 
See  Prel.  Note.  Those  who  came  out  to  meet 
Jesus  are  not  described  as  Jews,  and  may  have 
been,  as  Meyer  surmises,  unprejudiced  pilgrims 
who  had  come  to  the  feast  and  had  there  heard 
the  fame  of  the  Messiah.  For  account  of  how 
the  young  ass  was  found,  see  Matthew  21  :  2-7. 


Ch.  12  :  19-50.  GREEKS  YISIT  JESOS— HIS  DIS- 
COURSE THEREOX.— Death  the  condition  of  life 
(at,  25). — Following  Christ  the  condition  of  com- 
panionship WITH  HIM  (26).— The  soul  conflicts  op 
Christ  illustrated  (27-30). — The  achievements  of 
THE  CROSS  OF  Christ  ;  it  judges  the  world  ;  de- 
feats OF  THE  world's  FALSE  PRINCE  ;  DRAWS  ALL 
MEN  TO  THE  TRUE  KING  (31-33). — DISOBEDIENCE  OP 
THE  INNER  LIGHT  OP  THE  SOUL  QUENCHES  IT  ;  FAITH 
IN  AND  FOLLOWING  OF  THAT  LIGHT  NOURISHES  AKD 
PERFECTS  IT  (.34  ^O).— ThE  CRIME  OF  COWARDICE  ILLUS- 
TRATED (42,  43). — Christ  a  guide  to  the  Father 
(44-46). — Christ's  words  man's  judge  (47,  48).— The 
SOURCE  or  Christ's  authority  and  power  (49,  50). 

19-22.  The  Pharisees  therefore  said 
among  themselves.  Some  among  the  Phari- 
sees were  friendly  to  Jesus,  but  dared  not  come 
out  openly  in  his  favor.  Of  this  number  was 
Nicodemus.  To  the  same  class  belonged  the 
lawyer  that  answered  Christ  discreetly  and  the 
ruler  whom  it  is  said  Jesus  loved  (Mark  lo :  21 ;  12 :  34). 
Chrysostom  supposes  that  the  Pharisees  here 
referred  to  were  of  this  sort,  and  that  their  lan- 
guage is  that  of  remonstrance  against  the  en- 
deavors of  the  rest  to  destroy  him.  The  lan- 
guage seems  to  me  rather  that  of  approval  of 
Caiaphas'  counsel.  They  point  to  the  fact  that 
the  cautious  metho'ds  have  availed  nothing.  So 
Bengel  and  mo.st  modern  critics. — The  world 
is  gone  out  after  him.  Literally  are  depart- 
ing  after  him;  that  is,  are  leaving  us,  the  old 
and  aclvnowledged  teachers,  to  go  after  him,  this 
new  and  unordained  rabbi.    The  tvorld  signifies 


Ch.  XI I.J 


JOHN. 


155 


23  And  Jesus  answered  them,  saying,  The  hour  is'' 
come,  that  the  Son  of  man  should  be  glorified. 

24  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,>^  Except  a  corn  of 
wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and  die,  it  abideth  alone: 
but  if  it  die,  it  bringetti  forth  much  Iruit. 


25  Hey  that  loveth  his  life  shall  lose  it:  and  he  that 
hateth  his  life  in  this  world,  shall  keep  it  unto  life 
eternal. 

26  It^  any  man  serve  me,  let  him  follow  me;  and 
where"  I  am,  there  shall  also  my  servant  be:  if '' any 
man  serve  me,  him  will  my  Father  honour. 


. . . . y  Matt.  10  :  39  ;  16  :  26  ;  Mark  8  :  35 ;  Luke  9  :  S4  ;   17  :  33. . . , 
chaps.  14  :  3  ;  17  :  24  ;  1  Thess.  4  :  17. . .  .b  1  Sam.  2  :  30  ;  Prov.  27  ; 


ch.  14  :  IS ;  Luke  16  :  46 ; 


the  multitude,  not  especially  the  wicked ;  but  it 
is  a  term  of  reproach. — But  there  were  cer- 
tain Greeks.  But,,  not  and.  The  particle  (Ji) 
is  adversative,  and  indicates  a  contrast  between 
the  persons  mentioned  in  the  previous  sentence 
and  those  here  referred  to.  So  do  the  terms 
Phariseen,  who  were  Hebrews  of  the  Hebrews, 
and  Greeks  who  were,  not  Jews  dispersed  in 
Greece  and  coming  up  thence  to  the  feast,  but 
men  who  belonged  to  the  Greek  nationality  and 
had  adopted  the  Hebrew  religion,  i.  e.,  Greek 
proselytes.  On  the  character  of  these  proselytes 
from  foreign  nations,  see  Matthew  23  :  15,  note. 
That  these  were  Greeks,  not  Grecian  Jews,  is 
evident  from  the  word  emi^loyed  to  describe  the 
GreeksC^/XfiT'cc),  which  is  one  signifying  nation- 
ality, not  location ;  that  they  were  proselytes  is 
evident  from  the  characterization  as  among  them 
which  were  accustomed  (present  participle  signify- 
ing habit — Meyer)  to  come  up  to  worship  at  the 
feast.  They  were  of  the  same  character  as  the 
centurion  whose  son  Christ  healed,  the  Cornelius 
who  sent  for  Peter,  and  the  Eunuch  to  whom 

Philip    preached    (Matt.  8  :  7-10 ;    Acts8:27-J0;    cb.  10). 

The  pilgrims  to  Jerusalem  were  increased  con- 
siderably in  the  increasing  decay  of  the  poly- 
theistic worship  of  Greece  and  Rome,  with  such 
converts  to  the  simple  and  sublime  monotheism 
of  Judea. — The  same  came  therefore  to 
Philip.  Why  to  Philip  is  purely  a  matter  of 
conjecture.  In  fact,  Philip  and  Andrew  are  both 
Greek  names,  and  the  only  names  of  Greek  origin 
among  the  twelve. — Sir  (y.i-on).  The  term  is  the 
same  one  translated  lord  when  used  in  addressing 
Christ.  Its  fair  equivalent  in  the  English  lan- 
guage is  Sire.  They  address  Philip  with  marked 
respect. — We  Avould  see  Jesus.  Rather,  rve 
have  desired  to  see  him.  They  assume  that  a 
private  interview  will  be  readily  granted  them. 
That  this  is  what  they  desire  is  evident,  because 
Christ  was  publicly  teaching  in  the  temple  during 
the  four  days  preceding  his  arrest,  and  therefore 
it  was  very  easy  for  them  to  both  see  and  hear 
him  in  public.  The  motive  of  this  request  may 
probably  have  been  a  mixed  one  ;  partly  a  curi- 
osity to  see  and  hear  more  of  this  extraordinary 
Rabbi,  partly  a  real  moral  and  spiritual  appre- 
ciation of  and  drawing  to  him ;  possibly  a  dim 
and  unconfessed  wonder  whether  he  might  pos- 
sibly be  the  promised  Messiah.  Stier  compares 
this  visit  to  that  of  the  jNIagi  at  the  birth,  one  a 
coming  to  the  cradle,  the  other  to  the   cross. 


Godot  refers  to  the  tradition  narrated  by  Euse- 
bius,  that  an  embassy  was  sent  by  the  king  of 
Edessa,  in  Syria,  to  invite  Jesus  to  take  up  his 
abode  with  him,  and  to  furnish  him  such  a  royal 
welcome  as  should  compensate  him  for  the  obsti- 
nacy with  which  the  Jews  rejected  him. — An- 
drew and  Philip  tell  Jesus.  The  two  were  of 
the  same  city  (ch.  1 :  44).  The  fact  that  Philip  takes 
Andrew  with  him  is  one  of  the  not  unfrequent 
indications  of  the  awe  with  which,  despite  the 
fullness  and  even  familiarity  of  his  love,  Christ 
inspired  his  most  intimate  disciples  (Luke  9  :  45 ; 
Mark  9  :  32,  etc.).  So  Beugcl :  "Philip  fcarcd  to 
introduce  the  Greeks  alone ;  with  a  friend  he 
ventured  to  do  so."  It  is  to  be  remembered, 
however,  that  the  request  would  seem  a  doubtful 
one  to  them,  since  the  Rabbinical  theology  for- 
bade to  teach  the  tmth  to  a  Gentile,  who  was 
regarded  as  unworthy  of  it,  and  Jesus  himself 
had  confined  his  ministry  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the 

house  of  Israel  (Matt.  10  :  5  ;    15  :  24). 

23-26.  But  Jesus  answered  them.    But 

(di)  not  a)id;  the  adversative  particle  indicates 
that  the  request  was  refused.  So  also  does  the 
word  {(iTtoy.nivtjuai)  rendered  answered,  literally 
to  distinguish,  then  to  reject  after  inquiry  ;  then 
to  make  response ;  but  primarily  a  negative 
response.  So  also,  it  appears  to  me,  does  the 
discourse  which  follows.  Neither,  however,  is 
conclusive.  Tholuck  apparently  thinks  the  re- 
quest granted ;  Meyer  supposes  that  Christ  in- 
tended to  grant  the  request,  but  was  interrupted 
by  the  voice  from  heaven ;  a  quite  improbable 
conjecture.  Whether  the  interview  was  granted 
or  refused,  is  a  point  on  which  John  lays  no 
emphasis.  He  narrates  the  request  only  because 
it  leads  to  a  brief  utterance  by  Jesus,  called  out 
by  it,  and  which  he  could  not  intelligiljly  report 
without  reporting  the  incident  which  led  to  it. — 
The  hour  is  come  that  the  Son  of  man 
should  be  glorified.  Hour  is  here  equivalent 
to  the  more  general  word  time  or  era.  The 
prophets  of  the  O,  T.  foretell  the  ingathering 
of  the  Gentiles  through  the  Messiah.  This  is 
both  his  glory  and  the  glory  of  the  Jewish  nation 
in  him  (Psaim  2:8;  isaiah  53 :  11 ).  In  this  application 
of  these  Greek  proselytes,  Christ  sees  a  prophetic 
indication  of  the  time  when,  with  a  profounder 
meaning,  the  Gentile  world  will  everywhere  put 
forth  a  request  to  see  Jesus,  when,  being  lifted 
up,  he  will  draw  all  men  tinto  him,  when  they 
will  come  from  the  north  and  the  south,  the  east 


156 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XII. 


27  Now"^  is  mj-  soul  troubled  :  and  what  shall  I  say  ? 
Father,  save  me  from  this  hour :  but ''  for  this  cause 
came  I  unto  this  hour. 

28  Father,  glorify  thy  name.    Then  came  there  a 


voice «  from  heaven,  saying,  I  have  both  glorified  //, 
and  will  glority  it  again. 

29  The  people  therefore  that  stood  by,  and  heard  it, 
said  that  it  thundered  :  others  said,  An  angel  spake  to 
him. 


c  ch.  13  :  SI ;  Matt. 


8,  39  ;  Luke  12  :  50  . . .  .  d  ch.  18  :  37  .  . . .  e  Matt.  3  :  17. 


and  the  west,  to  sit  down  with  Jesus  in  his  king- 
dom (Matt.  8 :  ii),  when  he  will  break  down  the 
partition  wall  between  Jew  and  Gentile  (Ephes. 
2 :  u),  and  gather  into  one  nation  the  dispersed 

children    of     God    (John  ll  :  SS;    Col.  3:n;    Rev.  7  :  9). 

The  term  Son  of  man  is  here,  as  always  when 
used  by  Christ  in  reference  to  himself,  equivalent 
to  the  Messiah. — Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
you.  A  customary  prelude  to  an  important 
saying  (Matt.  5 :  ls,  note).  Here  it  is  used  by  Christ 
to  emphasize  a  truth  which  the  disciples  had 
already  proved  themselves  so  loth  to  receive  that 
they  were  practically  unable  to  understand  it 
(Mark  9 :  32 ;  Luke  18 :  34),  namely,  that  the  Mcssiah's 
death  must  precede  this  ingathering  of  the  Gen- 
tiles and  prepare  the  way  for  it,  and  itself  be- 
come the  instrument  for  its  accomplishment. 
He  states  this  truth,  first  under  a  figure  drawn 
from  nature  (ver.  24),  then  as  a  general  law,  alike 
applicable  to  the  Master  and  his  disciples  (ver.  25). 
— Except  a  kernel  of  wheat  fall  into  the 
ground  and  die,  it  abideth  alone.  In  the 
granary  it  is  safe,  but  tiseless.  Its  death  is  the 
precursor  of  its  usefulness.  Paul  enijjloys  the 
same  figure  in  a  different  connection  in  1  Cor. 
15  :  36.  Christ  embodies  it  in  the  Lord's  Supper, 
which  reminds  us  of  this  law  of  self-sacrifice. 
It  is  the  wheat  ground  to  powder  that  makes  the 
bread,  and  the  body  bruised  that  makes  the 
bread  of  life  ;  it  is  the  grape  crushed  that  makes 
the  wine,  and  the  blood  poured  out  as  a  libation 
that  makes  the  wine  of  life.  This  truth  of  self- 
sacrifice  symbolized  by  nature  is  one  of  the  uni- 
versal laws  of  spiritual  life. — He  that  loveth 
his  life  shall  lose  it.  The  life  or  soul  (the 
same  Greek  word,  uv/il,  is  indiscriminately  ren- 
dered by  both  English  words  in  our  English  ver- 
sion) is  the  aesthetic  and  intellectual  part  of  man 
in  contrast  M'ith  the  spiritual  nature  (0  7iy€vi.iu). 
If  one  gives  himself  to  the  saving  of  this  soul  or 
life  he  destroys  it ;  for  this  is  but  the  adjunct  of 
the  spiritual  nature,  and  perishes  if  that  is  left 
to  perish.  "  Lange  points  out  that  this  saying 
involved  a  condemnation  of  Hellenism.  For 
what  was  Greek  civilization  but  human  life  cul- 
tivated from  the  view-point  of  enjoyment,  and 
withdrawn  from  the  law  of  sacrifice." — {Godet.) 
The  same  judgment  Paul  re-affirms  in  1  Cor. 
1  :  lS-21  ;  and  it  is  equally  applicable  as  a  judg- 
ment of  modem  unreligious  culture.  Culture 
without  religion  destroys  what  it  would  pre- 
serve.— He  that  hateth  his  life  in  this 
world  shall  guard  it  unto   life  eternal. 


Two  different  Greek  words  (vv;f>j  and  tiai])  are 
rendered  by  the  same  English  word  life  in  the 
two  clauses  of  this  sentence.  Yet  if  we  were  to 
render  it.  He  that  hateth  his  soul  shall  guard  it  unto 
life  eternal,  the  rendering  would  be  at  least 
equallj'  liable  to  misapprehension.  If  the  reader 
understands  soul  to  mean  the  earthy  side  of 
human  nature,  in  contrast  with  the  spiritual,  as 
explained  above  (and  this  is  the  N.  T.  use  of  the 
term),  this  substituted  rendering  wiU  give  him 
the  true  meaning  of  the  original.  Beware  of 
understanding  hate  to  mean  merely  does  not 
love,  or  guard  as  merely  equivalent  to  keep,  as  it 
is  rendered  in  our  English  version.  The  meaning 
is  that  he  who  finds  no  satisfaction  in  earthly 
sources  of  enjoyment,  who  turns  away  from 
them  with  a  sense  of  satiety  that,  at  least  at  times, 
becomes  a  generous  contempt  and  a  noble  loath- 
ing, toward  the  higher  spiritual  life  which  mere 
intellectual  and  aesthetic  culture  does  nothing  to 
satisfy,  is  by  that  very  hate  protected  from  the 
excesses  and  the  demoralization  which  of  neces- 
sity inheres  in  a  life  contented  with  the  provi- 
sions for  the  earthly  nature.  The  hate  inspired 
in  a  noble  nature  by  every  unworthy  thing  is  the 
best  protection  against  subtle  temptations. — If 
any  man  would  serve  me,  let  him  follow 
me.  This  is  Christ's  answer  to  the  request  of 
the  Greeks.  Ser%'ice  of  Christ  is  to  be  sought,  not 
by  secret  interviews,  not  by  sacred  and  saintly 
communings,  which  he  gives  to  whom  he  will, 
but  by  practical  following  of  him  in  a  life  of  daily 
self-sacrifice  for  others. — And  where  I  am, 
there  shall  my  servant  be.  This  practical 
following  is  the  way  that  leads  to  intimate  fel- 
lowship. The  sacred  conversations  of  Christ  with 
the  twelve,  recorded  in  John,  chaps.  13-16,  did 
not  come  till  for  three  years  they  had  followed 
him,  forsaking  all  things  for  the  sake  of  his  com- 
panionship. This  following  has  the  promise  both 
of  heavenly  companionship  with  Christ  on  earth 
(ch.  14 :  21-23),  and  eternal  companionship  -with  him 
in  heaven  (Rom.  s-.n-,  2  Tim.  2 :  11, 12). — If  any  man 
serve  me,  him  will  my  Father  honor.  For 
it  is  with  the  Father,  not  with  the  Son,  to  deter- 
mine who  shall  sit  at  his  right  hand  and  his  left 
(M.irk  10 :  4o),  who  are  to  receive  the  honors,  what 
is  to  be  the  allotment  of  rank  in  the  kingdom  of 
God.  The  Christian's  ambition,  therefore,  is  to 
be  Christ-like  in  the  life  of  earthly  service,  and 
leave  all  else  to  the  will  of  the  Father  concern- 
ing him. 
37-29.  NoAV  is  my  soul  troubled.    Liter- 


€h.  XILJ 


JOHN. 


15r 


30  Jesus  answered  and  said.  This  voice  came  not 
because  of  me.  but  f  for  your  sakes. 

31  Now  is  the  judgment  of  this  world:  now  shall s 
the  prince  of  this  world  be  cast  out. 


32  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted''  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw 
all'  men  unto  me. 

33  This  he  said,  signifying  J  what  death  he  should 


die 


f  ch.  11  :  42 g  ch.  16  :  11 ;  Luke  10  :  18  ;  Acts  26  :  18  ;  Eplies.  2  :  2  . . . .  h  ch.  8  :  28 i  Rom.  5  :  18 j  ch.  18  :  i 


ally,  stirred  up,  in  conflict.  In  11  :  33  it  is  said 
that  Jesus  was  indignant  in  spirit,  here  that  his 
^ottl  is  in  conflict.  See  note  on  11 :  33,  and  on  this 
contrast  between  soul  and  spirit,  see  above  on 
verse  35 ;  the  one  links  man  to  God,  the  other 
to  the  animal.  At  the  grave  of  Lazarus  the 
higher  spiritual  nature  was  indignant  at  the  ex- 
hibition of  formalism  and  false  pretence ;  here 
the  lower  and  earthly  nature  was  in  conflict 
between  the  instincts  of  self-preservation  and  the 
impulse  of  love  and  duty.  "A  horror  of  death 
and  an  ardor  of  obedience  concurred." — {Bengel.) 
It  was  a  real  struggle  ;  the  narration  of  it  refutes 
the  rationalistic  hypothesis  that  John  omitted 
the  agony  at  Gethsemane  because  he  desired  to 
portray  a  Son  of  God  superior  to  all  trial  and 
conflict.  It  illustrates  and  is  interpreted  by 
Heb.  3  :  18 ;  4  :  15 ;  5  :  7 ;  see  Notes  on  Tempta- 
tion of  Christ,  Matt,  i  :  1-11 ;  and  on  Lessons 
of  Gethsemane,  Matt.  36  :  36-46. — And  Avhat 
shall  I  say  ?  Father,  save  me  from  this 
hour  ?  This  is  to  be  taken  not  affirmatively 
but  interrogatively.  Christ  does  not  first  pray 
to  be  delivered  from  his  passion  and  then 
change  his  mind,  recall  the  prayer  and  put  up 
another  and  a  different  one.  Nor  is  it  uttered 
didactically,  to  teach  his  disciples.  The  con- 
trast between  the  two  petitions  is  explained 
by  the  precedent  declaration,  "Now  is  my  soul 
in  conflict ; "  the  nature  of  that  conflict  is  hinted 
at  in  the  twofold  prayer,  the  first  hypothetical, 
the  second  final :  Shall  I  ask  my  Father  to  save 
me  from  this  hour  ?  (That  is  the  suggestion  of 
the  natural  instincts. )  No  !  for  this  cause  came 
I  unto  this  hour.  Rather,  Father,  glorify  thy 
name.  (That  is  the  victory  of  the  spiritual  na- 
ture.) "The  struggle  is  like  one  of  those  fissures 
in  its  crust,  which  enables  science  to  fathom  the 
bowels  of  the  earth.  It  lets  us  read  the  very 
Inmost  depths  of  the  Lord's  being." — (Godet.) 
Beware  of  understanding  this  conflict  as  one 
between  the  God  and  the  man  in  the  God-man. 
The  spirit  is  in  every  child  of  God,  increasingly 
dominant,  though  in  none  absolutely,  unques- 
tionably and  always  supreme  as  in  Jesus  Christ. 
This  hour  is  the  hour  of  the  passion  toward 
which  Christ  had  steadfastly  set  his  face  (Luke 
9 :  5i)  in  coming  up  for  the  last  time  to  Jerusalem. 
— For  this  cause  came  I  unto  this  hour. 
In  order  to  be  a  sacrifice  he  had  both  come  from 
heaven  to  earth,  and  also,  at  this  very  moment, 
from  the  safety  and  comparative  popularity  of 
Perea   to   Jerusalem. — Father,    glorify    thy 


name.  Comp.  Matthew  36  :  39.  In  both  cases 
there  is  not  merely  resignation  to  a  superior  will, 
an  invincible  fate,  but  a  real  and  supreme  desire 
to  fulfil  that  wUl  whatever  it  may  entail. — Then 
came  there  a  voice  from  heaven.  The 
critics  since,  as  the  people  then,  have  discussed 
whether  this  was  really  an  articulate  voice, 
speaking  words,  or  only  a  sound  of  thunder 
which  Christ  interpreted  as  a  divine  response  to 
his  prayer.  The  word  voice  ('/wnj)  is  not  con- 
clusive, because  it  signifies  sometimes  an  inar- 
ticulate sound,  as  of  a  trumpet,  chariots,  waters, 

thunder,  and  the  like  (Matt.  «  :  31 ;  l  Cor.  U  :  7,  S  ;  John 
3:8;  Rev.  9  :  9  ;  6  :  1  ;  14  ;  2 ;    18  :  22,  etc.).      But  the  plain 

implication  of  the  narrative  is  that  this  was  an 
articulate  voice,  the  words  of  which  were  under- 
stood by  others  than  Jesus,  though  not  by  all. 
So  at  Paul's  conversion  his  companions  heard 
the  sound,  but  understood  not  the  words  of  the 

voice    that   spake   to   him    (Acts  9  :  7  with  22  :  9,  notes). 

This  is  the  view  of  nearly  all  evangelical  scholars, 
e.  g.,  Alford,  Meyer,  Godet,  etc.  The  latter's 
illustration  is  apt :  "The  whole  multitude  heard 
a  noise  ;  but  the  meaning  of  the  voice  was  only 
perceived  by  each  in  i^roportion  to  his  spiritual 
intelligence.  Thus  the  wild  beast  perceives  only 
a  sound  in  the  human  voice  ;  the  trained  animal 
discovers  a  meaning,  a  command,  for  example, 
which  it  immediately  obeys  ;  man  alone  discerns 
therein  a  thought.'''  Here  the  multitude  (o  i>/li>c, 
the  people)  did  not  comprehend  ;  but  some  {alhn, 
others),  a  smaller  number,  did. — I  have  both 
glorified  it  and  will  glorify  it  again.  The 
Father  had  glorified  his  name  by  giving  Jesus 
daily  and  hourly  the  jjower  to  do  and  to  bear  all 
that  had  been  laid  on  him  up  to  that  moment ; 
and  he  would  glorify  it  by  continuing  to  give 
him  the  power  to  do  and  to  bear  all  that  should 
be  laid  on  him  to  the  end.  The  prayer  and  the 
promise  are  both  for  us.  In  our  passion-hour 
true  prayer  will  be  the  cry,  not  of  the  soul,  but 
of  the  spirit ;  a  cry,  not  to  be  saved  from  our 
Calvary,  but  to  be  enabled  to  glorify  our  Father's 
name  in  and  through  it.  And  the  answer  is 
interpreted  by  our  experience  in  the  past  (Psaim 
77  :  10-1  •>) ;  the  grace  that  has  been  sufficient  will 
be  sufficient  to  the  end. 

30-33.  Not  for  me  but  for  you.  If  there 
were  no  articulate  words,  if  Christ  simply  im- 
puted to  the  sound  of  thunder  the  meaning, 
there  would  have  been  in  it  no  value  to  the 
bystanders.  This  declaration,  therefore,  seems 
to  me  conclusive  that  a  voice  spoke  comprehen- 


158 


sible  words ;  and  even  to  indicate  that  the  hypo- 
thetical explanation  "It  thundered,"  was  not 
an  honest  one. — Now  is  the  judgment  of  this 

world.  The  language  is  anticipative.  Christ 
speaks  as  though  the  passion  on  which  he  was 
entering  were  already  accomplished.  That  pas- 
sion he  declares  will  be  characterized  by  a  three- 
fold result :  the  world  will  be  judged,  the  devil 
conquered  and  cast  out,  and  the  all-conquering 
Christ  brought  in.  The  judgment  of  the  world 
has  already  begun.  It  "dates  from  Good  Fri- 
day" (Godet).  While  Christ  came  not  to  judge 
the  world  but  that  the  world  through  him  might 
be  saved,  his  cross  is  in  fact  a  judgment-seat, 
and  men  are  discriminated  morally  and  spirit- 
ually by  their  reception  of  the  suffering,  self- 
sacrificing  Redeemer. — Now  the  prince  of 
this  Avorld  is  cast  out.  The  Prince  of  this 
world  was  a  phrase  much  used  by  Jewish  writers 
to  designate  the  spiritual  monarch  of  the  Gen- 
tiles in  opposition  to  the  one  true  God  whom 
they  regarded  as  in  a  peculiar  sense  the  God  of 
Israel.  Christ  employs  their  language  ;  he  sees 
in  the  application  of  the  Greeks  for  an  interview 
with  him  a  prophecy  of  the  time  when  Satan 
will  be  cast  out  and  all  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  will  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord 
and  of  his  Christ.  This  he  regards  as  accom- 
plished now,  that  is,  by  the  sacrifice  of  Calvary. 
The  world's  battle  was  fought  and  the  victory 
won  there.  The  second  coming  is  not  to  redeem 
the  world,  but  to  realize  for  the  world  the  fruits 
of  redemption,  in  an  established  and  eternal 
kingdom  of  righteousness,  after,  by  the  cross, 
humanity  has  been  judged,  the  devil  cast  out, 
and  the  redeemed  race  lifted  up  into  oneness 
with  Christ  Jesus.  The  passages  of  the  N.  T., 
which  imply   the    continuing  influence  of   the 

devil     (Rom.  16  :  20;    i  Cor.  4:4;    Ephes.  2:2;    6  :  12,  etc.) 

are  not  inconsistent  with  Christ's  language  here, 
because  it  is  prophetic ;  he  speaks  of  that  as 
already  accomplished  which  is  absolutely  certain 
to  be  accomplished  by  the  power  of  that  divine 
sacrifice  so  soon  by  him  to  be  consummated. — 
And  I  if  I  be  lifted  up  will  draAV  all  men 
tOAvard  myself.  If  is  not  to  be  rendered  as 
equivalent  to  whoi.  The  language  is  sympa- 
thetic with  that  of  verse  27  ;  it  is  the  last  trace 
of  that  soul-storm.  His  crucifixion  was  contin- 
gent ;  it  was  made,  to  the  last,  dependent  on  his 
own  voluntary  submission.  Even  in  the  hour  of 
his  arrest  the  way  of  deliverance  was  open  to 
him  (M.itt.  26 :  53).  He  is  still,  as  it  were,  arguing 
with  himself.  The  whole  language  is  that  of 
quasi  soliloquy.  The  phrase  Hffed  up  from  the 
earth  certainly  does  not  refer  to  his  ascension,  as 
Meyer  interprets  it.  John's  own  interpretation 
in  the  next  verse  is  conclusive  on  that  point. 
Apart  from  inspiration,  he,  as  a  sympathetic  car- 
witness,  is  to  be  trusted  as  a  correct  interpreter. 


JOHN.  -[Ch.  XIL 

Nor  does  it  refer  to  the  mere  physical  elevation 
from  the  ground  of  a  foot  or  two  in  the  cruci- 
fixion. The  N.  T.  use  of  the  original  word  ren- 
dered lifted  up  (iiij  ucj)  as  well  as  the  added  words 
from  the  earth,  is  conclusive  on  that  point.  To 
give  a  physical  interpretation  to  the  phrase  is  to 
belittle  and  degrade  it.  The  word  here  rendered 
lifted  up  is  generally  rendered  exalted  (Matt.  11  ;  23; 
23 :  12;  Luke  1  :  52 ;  11 :  ii),  and  is  uscd  in  reference 
to  Christ's  divine  exaltation  in  consequence  of 
his  voluntary  sacrifice  (Acts  2: 33;  6:31).  The 
crucifixion  is  exaltation  because  self-sacrifice  is 
divine  glory  (1  Cor.  1  :  23,  24).  From  the  earth  is 
added  to  mark  the  contrast  between  the  king- 
dom of  the  Prince  of  this  world  which  is  to  be 
overthrown  and  that  of  the  Prince  of  Light  which 
takes  its  place.  The  one  is  of  the  earth  earthy ; 
the  other  is  not  of  this  world  (ch.  is :  36),  but  over 
it,  a  kingdom  lifted  up  from  the  world  but  domi- 
nating it.  In  each  individual  soul  the  kingdom 
of  God  begins,  as  it  began  in  the  world  of  human- 
ity, in  crucifixion.  When  we  take  up  our  cross 
and  follow  Christ,  we  are  lifted  up  from  the 
earth  and  in  us  the  Prince  of  this  world  is  cast 

out  (Mark  9  :  49,  50  ;  Luke  14  :  27,  notes).  The  WOrd  draw- 
ing here  refers  not  primarily  to  the  influence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  winning  men  to  Christ  (ch.  7 :  39 ; 
14  :  18, 19 ;  16 :  i),  Certainly  not  to  what  theolo- 
gians call  effectual  calling,  but  to  the  attractive 
jDOwer  of  the  cross  itself.  Self-sacrifice  always 
draws  us  toward  the  sacrificed  one,  the  soldier, 
the  martyr,  the  mother ;  and  has  drawn  all 
hearts  toward  Christ  as  the  pre-eminent  martyr. 
This  is  not,  however,  a  promise  that  all  men 
shall  be  actually  brought  to  Christlikeness  of 
disposition.  The  original  does  not  imply  this. 
The  preposition  to  (ij^"'?)  should  rather  be  ren- 
dered towards;  for  it  indicates  directum,  not 
residt,  the  place  or  person  toward  which  any- 
thing moves  or  an  affection  is  directed,  not  that 
to  which  anything  comes  or  upon  which  an 
affection  is  finally  centered.  All  men  must  not 
be  rendered  with  Calvin  as  equivalent  to  "  all  the 
children  of  God ; "  nor  does  it  merely  mean  men 
of  both  Gentile  and  Jewish  origin,  i.  e.,  all  classes 
of  men.  Christ's  words  need  no  mending.  All 
men  to  whom  the  simple  story  of  the  cross  is 
told  are  drawn  toward  him  who  gave  himself  for 
us ;  whether  they  follow  him  and  become  like 
him  through  a  like  voluntary  cross-bearing  is 
another  question.  Of  that  Christ  says  nothing 
here.  The  whole  sentence,  then  (vers.  31. 32),  may 
be  paraphrased  thus :  Already  is  the  judgment 
of  this  world  beginning  to  take  place  ;  already 
is  the  Prince  of  this  world  beginning  to  be  cast 
out ;  and  I,  if  I  am  faithful  to  the  end  in  en- 
during that  cross  for  which  I  came  into  this 
hour,  will  draw  all  hearts  toward  me,  even 
as  now  these  stranger  hearts  are  drawn  toward 
me. 


Ch.  XIL] 


JOHN. 


lo» 


34  The  people  answered  him,  We  have  heard''  out 
of  the  law'  that  Christ  abideth  for  ever:  and  how 
sayest  thou,  The  Son  of  man  must  be  lifted  up  ?  who  is 
this  Son  of  man  ? 

35  Then  Jesus  said  unto  them,  Yet  a  little  while  is 
the  light™  with  you."    Walk  while  ye  have  the  light, 


lest  darkness  come  upon  you  :  for  he  "  that  walketh  in 
darkness  knoweth  not  whither  he  goeth. 

36  While  ye  have  light,  believe  m  the  lisfht,  that  ye 
may  beP  the  children  of  light.  These  things  spake 
Jesus,  and  departed,  and  did  hide  himself  from  them. 


k  Ps.  89  :  36,  37  ;  110  :  4 ;  Isa.  9:7 1  Rom.  6  :  18 ;  Ps.  72  :  17-19  . 


ch.  8  :  12 n  Jer.  13  :  6 0  ch.  11  :  10  . . . .  p  Ephea.  5  :  8. 


34-3G.  We  have  heard  out  of  the  law 
that  the  Messiah  abideth  forever.  Thej- 
evidently  understand  Christ's  language  to  refer 
to  his  death,  at  least  to  his  departure  from  the 
earth,  and  are  really  perplexed.  For  the  idea 
of  an  eai'thly  Messianic  kingdom  was  so  firmly 
fixed  in  the  public  mind  that  they  were  abso- 
lutely incapable  of  receiving  any  other ;  and  the 
O.  T.  in  many  passages  does  describe  that  king- 
dom as  an  everlasting  one  (Ps.  89  .■  36 ;  145 :  13 ;  isaiah 

9  :  6,  7  ;  Dan.  7  :  13,  U). — WhO  is  thls  Soil  of  maU  ? 

The  language  is  that  of  sneer.  What  strange 
sort  of  a  Messiah  is  this,  that  must  die  in  order 
to  draw  all  nations  unto  him,  and  enter  into  his 
kingdom? — Then  Jesus  said  unto  them. 
His  reply  is  not  responsive  to  their  question.  He 
rarely  if  ever  replied  to  sneers. — Yet  a  little 
while  is  the  lis^ht  with  you.  The  com- 
mentators generally  regard  the  phrase  the  Light 
as  Christ's  designation  of  himself.  So  Alford, 
Godet,  Meyer,  among  the  moderns,  and  Chrysos- 
tom  and  Calvin  among  the  older  commentators. 
But  this  interpretation  entangles  the  whole  sen- 
tence. Christ  then  bids  his  auditors  to  walk, 
i.e.,  "be  not  slothful  but  spiritually  active" 
(3Ieyer),  for  the  two  or  three  days  that  intervene 
before  his  death ;  for  his  death  will  bring  dark- 
ness on  them,  and  make  it  impossible  for  them 
to  walk  intelligently  thereafter.  The  direction 
is  thus  deprived  of  all  significance  to  us,  and  is 
contradicted  by  history  ;  for  the  death  of  Christ 
brought  light,  not  darkness,  and  was  itself  the 
necessary  precursor  of  highest  spiritual  activity 
in  all  that  believe  on  him.  The  lirj/it  here,  as  in 
Matthew  6  :  23,  is  the  moral  and  spiritual  nature 
of  man,  that  which  links  him  to  the  divine  and 
makes  it  possible  for  him  to  become  a  child  of 
God.  God  is  the  Light  of  the  world  (i  John  i :  5)  be- 
cause he  is  the  fountain,  the  central  sun  which 
supplies  and  keeps  alive  this  moral  and  spiritual 
nature  in  men.  Christ  is  the  Light  of  the  world 
(ch.  9  : 5),  because  in  him  this  spiritual  nature 
shone  out  without  any  dimness  from  sin  or 
moral  infirmity.  Christians  are  lights  in  the 
world  (Matt.  5 :  14),  bccausc  this  spiritual  nature  in 
them  is  their  guide,  illuminating  them  and 
through  them  others.  If  one  follows  this  inner 
light  it  grows  brighter  and  brighter  unto  perfect 
day  (Prov.  4:  is) ;  if  he  disobeys  it,  he  quenches  it 
and  goes  into  moral  darkness,  losing  the  very 
power  of  moral  and  spiritual  discrimination  (i  John 
2:8-11).     I  understand  Christ's  meaning  then  to 


be  this :  Tou  have  yet  for  a  little  while  longer 
the  light  of  conscience  ;  it  is  not  utterly  quenched. 
Beware.  Walk  according  to  such  light  as  you 
possess,  lest  utter  moral  darkness  come  upon 
you.  And  he  who  walks  in  such  darkness  knows 
not  the  future  fate  that  awaits  him.  Walk  while 
ye  have  the  light  should  rather  be  rendered,  Walk 
as  ye  have  the  light  (wc  not  twc  is  the  best  reading, 
so  Alford,  Meyer,  etc.);  that  is,  According  to  the 
light  ye  possess.  The  phrase  Come  upon  you  is 
hardly  forcible  enough  to  express  the  meaning- 
of  the  original  {y.uTu?.ui.i;:lun<))  which  is  literally 
to  seize  or  take  violent  possession  of.  See  Mark 
9  :  18 ;  John  8  :  3  ;  1  Thess.  5  :  i.  Knoweth  not 
whitJier  hegoeth  indicates  the  awful  mystery  which 
hangs  about  the  final  fate  of  those  who  refuse  to 
follow  the  light  of  their  own  better  nature,  and 
so  to  accept  the  light  which  comes  from  God 
through  Jesus  Christ  his  Son. — As  ye  have 
the  light,  have  faith  in  the  light,  that  ye 
may  become  the  children  of  light.  Ob- 
serve the  difference  between  this  rendering, 
which  accurately  follows  the  original,  and  that 
of  the  English  version,  from  which  it  differs  in 
three  important  particulars.  Christ  does  not 
say  while  ye  have  the  light,  but  according  as  ye  have 
the  light,  that  is,  faith  is  to  be  exercised  accord- 
ing to  the  opportunity  ;  he  does  not  say  believe, 
a  word  which  indicates  an  intellectual  act,  but 
have  faith,  a  word  which  indicates  a  spiritual 
habit ;  he  does  not  say  may  be  the  children  of  light, 
as  though  a  single  act  of  belief  perfected  the 
soul  in  sonship,  but  may  become  the  children  of 
light,  faith  in  such  light  as  the  soul  possesses 
being  the  way  unto  a  final  perfection  in  the 
divine  life.  Faith  is  the  evidence  of  things  un- 
seen (Heb.  II :  i),  that  is,  the  power  of  the  soul  by 
which  it  appreciates  unseen  moral  qualities ; 
hence  the  divine  qualities  in  Christ :  hence,  by 
direct,  immediate  communion,  the  invisible  spirit 
of  God.  The  direction  here  is  the  natural  out- 
come of  the  preceding  warning,  and  may  be  para- 
phrased thus  :  "  As  you  have  moral  and  spiritual 
illumination,  exercise  faith  toward  it,  appre- 
hend, appreciate,  obey  the  sacred  inner  monitions 
of  your  moral  nature ;  so  shall  you  be  led  con- 
stantly into  clearer  light,  and  shall  at  last  be- 
come children  of  light,  wholly  possessed  and 
pervaded  by  it."  This  of  course  includes  the 
exercise  of  faith  in  Christ  according  to  the  meas- 
ure in  which  he  is  revealed  to  the  soul ;  but  it 
certainly  is  much  more  than  a  mere  exhortation 


160 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XII. 


37  But  though  he  had  done  so  many  miracles  before 
themjVet  they  believed  not  on  him  : 

38  That  the  saying  of  Esaias  the  prophet  might  be 
fulfilled,  which  he  spake,i  Lord,  who  hath  believed  our 
report  ?  and  to  whom  hath  the  arm  of  the  Lord  been 
revealed  ? 

39  Therefore  they  could  not  believe,  because  that 
Esaias  said'  again, 

40  He  hath  blinded  their  eyes,  and  hardened  their 
heart :  that  they  should  not  see  with  their  eyes,  nor 
understand  with  their-  heart,  and  be  converted,  and  I 
should  heal  them. 


41  These  things  said  Esaias,  when'  he  saw  his  glory, 
and  spake  of  him. 

42  Nevertheless  among  the  chief  rulers  also  many 
believed  on  him  ;  but'  because  of  the  Pharisees  they 
did  not  confess  him^  lest  they  should  be  put  out  of  the 
synagogue : 

43  For  "  they  loved  the  praise  of  men  more  than  the 
praise  of  God. 

44  Jesus  cried  and  said,  He^'  that  believeth  on  me, 
believeth  not  on  me,  but  on  him  that  sent  me. 

45  And  he  that  seeth  me  seeth  him  that  sent  me. 

46  I  ™  am  come  a  light  into  the  world,  that  whosoever 
believeth  on  me  should  not  abide  in  darkness. 


ql3a.  53  :  l....r  Isa.  6  :  9,  10....slsa.  6  :  l....tcli.  9  :  22....iich.  5  :  44  ;  Rom.  2  :  29. 


■Mark  9:  37;  1  Pet.  1:21. 


■  chaps.  1  :  5  ;  3  :  19. 


to  the  Jews  to  believe  in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah 
while  he  remained  in  the  flesh  among  them. 
Both  the  warning  against  quenching  this  inner 
light  by  disobedience,  and  the  exhortation  to 
nourish  it  by  appreciating  and  following  it  are 
applicable  to  all  men  and  for  all  time. — And 
departed  and  hid  himself  from  them. 
The  very  fact  that  these  were  among  Christ's 
last  words,  and  that  immediately  on  uttering 
them  he  departed  into  a  concealment  from  which 
apparently  he  did  not  issue  till  the  time  for  his 
passion,  should  have  sufficed  to  prevent  the 
common  but  unspiritual  interpretation  contro- 
verted above.  ' '  This  was  the  farewell  of  Jesus 
to  Israel.  He  then  retired  and  did  not  reappear 
on  the  morrow.  This  time  it  was  no  mere  cloud 
which  obscured  the  sun  ;  the  sun  itself  had  set." 
— {Godet.)  This  statement  fixes  the  time  of  this 
incident ;  it  was  concurrent  with  his  farewell 
to  Jerusalem,  that  is,  on  tlie  same  day  with, 
and  probably  just  subsequent  to  the  discourse 
recorded  in  Matthew,  ch.  23.  In  the  discourses 
of  which  that  was  the  culmination,  Christ  plainly 
ioretold  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
dispersion  of  the  Jews,  and  indicated  the  calling 
of  the  Gentiles  (Matt.  21 :  43 ;  23 :  37-39).  It  may  be 
that  those  prophecies  led  to  this  application  of 
the  Greeks  for  a  more  private  interview  with 
the  prophet  who  thus  foretold  the  ingathering 
of  the  Gentiles. 

37-43.  These  words  are  John's  comments  on 
the  whole  incident  and  teaching.  The  passages 
from  Isaiah  (e  :9,  lO;  isaiah53  •  1)  illustrate  Christ's 
warning,  and  Christ's  warning  interprets  Isaiah's 
prophecy.  The  blinding  and  hardening  are  here 
attributed  to  God  because  they  take  place  in 
accordance  with  the  divine  law  which  Christ  has 
enunciated,  namely,  that  disobedience  to  the 
light  quenches  and  destroys  it.  In  Matthew 
13  :  13-15,  the  Jews  are  represented  as  blinding 
their  own  eyes,  etc.,  because  they  have  done  so 
by  their  disobedience.  See  notes  on  Matthew, 
To  those  who  recognize  the  authority  of  John, 
his  language  here  is  conclusive  that  Isaiah  spoke 
as  a  prophet,  and  under  divine  inspiration. 
Observe  that  Isaiah,  though  living  seven  centu- 
ries before  Christ,  saw  his  glory,  which  the  blinded 


eyes  of  the  Pharisees,  though  they  were  his  con- 
temporaries, could  not  see.  Putthig  out  of  the 
synagogue,  that  is,  excommunication,  was  in  those 
days  a  very  serious  matter.  See  ch.  9  :  22,  note. 
I  make  no  attempt  to  follow  other  commentators 
in  a  discussion  here  respecting  the  relation  of 
divine  decrees  and  human  free  agency ;  that 
belongs  not  to  the  commentator  but  to  the  meta- 
physician and  theologian.  Taking  the  whole 
passag^e  together  with  its  context,  it  seems  to  me 
clear  (against  Alford)  that  the  statement  of  John 
Tlierefore  they  could  not  believe,  refers  not  back- 
wards to  the  precedent  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  so 
that  the  meaning  is  that  they  could  not  believe 
"  because  it  was  otherwise  ordained  in  the  divine 
counsels,"  but  forward  to  the  subsequent  pro- 
phecy of  Isaiah,  so  that  the  meaning  is  that  they 
could  not  believe  because  their  eyes  were  blinded 
and  their  hearts  hardened.  Either  interpreta- 
tion is  grammatically  possible ;  this  one  makes 
John's  comment  germane  to  Christ's  discourse 
respecting  the  light,  and  the  effect  of  refusing 
obedience  to  it ;  the  other  does  not.  An  inter- 
pretation which  represents  God  as  blinding  the 
eyes  and  hardening  the  heart,  so  as  to  prevent 
the  exercise  of  faith,  and  this  in  oriier  that  a 
prophecy  may  be  fulfilled,  cannot  be  reconciled 
with  the  divine  righteousness,  much  less  with 
the  divine  infinite  mercj'. 

44-46.  But  Jesus  cried  and  said.  What 
follows,  to  the  end  of  the  chapter,  is  not  to  be 
regarded  as  a  report  of  a  further  discourse  by 
Jesus,  but  as  a  summary  furnished  by  John,  of 
his  Lord's  previous  discourses.  This  view  is 
required  by  the  context,  what  follows  being 
closely  connected  with  John's  previous  com- 
ments, by  the  structure  of  the  discourse,  which 
is  subslantially  a  repetition  of  previously  re- 
ported discourses  (see  notes),  and  by  the  con- 
sideration that,  not  only  no  time  or  place  is  indi- 
cated, but  that  none  is  allowed,  since  it  is  ex- 
pressly asserted,  immediately  before,  that  Christ 
departed  and  hid  himself  from  the  people  (ver.  36). 
This  view  is  taken  by  all  the  moderns  {Aford, 
Meyer,  Oodet,  Luthardt).  Bengel  is  hardly  self- 
consistent.  In  his  Grammar  he  characterizes 
this  as  "the  peroration  and  recapitulation,  in 


Ch.  XIL] 


JOHN. 


161 


47  And  if  any  man  hear  my  words,  and  believe  not, 
1  judge  him  not:  tor  I  came*  not  to  judge  tlie  world, 
but  to  save  the  world. 

48  He  that  rejecteth  me,  and  receiveth  not  my  words,? 
hath  one  tliat  judgeth  him  :  the  word  that  1  have 
spoken,  the  same  shall  judge  him  in  the  last  day. 


49  For  I  have  not  spoken  of  myself;  but  the  Father 
which  sent  me,  he  gave  me  a  commandment,  what  I 
should  say,  and  what  I  should  speak. 

50  And  1  know  that  his  commandment^  is  life  ever- 
lasting :  whatsoever  I  speak  therefore,  even  as  the 
Father  said  unto  me,  so  1  speak. 


z  ch.  3  :  n y  Deut.  18  :  19  ;  Luke  9  :  26 z  1  John  3  :  23. 


John's  Gospel,  of  Christ's  public  discourses;" 
in  his  Harmony  he  suggests  that  Christ  "spake 
in  the  verj'  act  of  departure,  when  he  was  now 
at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  men  ;  where- 
fore he  is  said  to  have  cried,  in  order,  doubtless, 
that  those  very  persons  with  whom  he  had 
spoken  might  hear;"  an  hypothesis  which 
Luthardt  justly  characterizes  as  artificial,  un- 
warranted by  the  Gospel  account,  and  disagree- 
able.— He  that  hath  faith  in  me,  hath 
faith  not  in  me  but  in  him  that  sent  me. 
In  (ftc)  indicates  the  ultimate  end  or  object  of 
the  faith.  The  negative  is  not  to  be  omitted  or 
reduced  to  a  mere  rhetorical  expression,  or  read 
as  though  it  was  equivalent  to  "  hath  not  faith 
in  me  alone."  True  scriptural  faith  in  Christ 
does  not  sto2)  with  him,  but  finds  in  him  the  way 
to  the  Father,  the  Spirit  who  is  to  be  worshipped 
in  spirit  as  well  as  in  truth,  and  whom  no  man 
hath  seen  at  any  time.  Hence  Paul's  declaration, 
"Tea,  though  we  have  seen  Christ  after  the 
flesh,  yet  now  henceforth  we  know  him  no  more." 
"Christ  descended  to  us  that  he  might  unite  us 
to  God.  Untn  we  have  reached  that  point,  we 
are,  as  it  were,  in  the  middle  of  the  course.  We 
imagine  to  ourselves  but  a  half  Christ,  and  a 
mutilated  Christ,  if  he  do  not  lead  us  to  God." — 
(Calvin.)  For  parallel  teaching  of  Christ,  see 
ch.  5  :  34,  30,  38,  -13 ;  8  :  19,  42 ;  10  :  38 ;  14  : 
10,  11. — And  he  that  seeth  me  seeth  him 
that  sent  me.  See  is  here  used  not  of  external 
but  of  spiritual  perception,  as  in  chaps.  4  :  19 ; 
6  :  40 ;  14  :  19  ;  17  :  24.  He  that  has  a  spiritual 
perception  and  appreciation  of  the  glory  of 
Christ's  character  has  a  perception  and  appre- 
ciation of  the  divine  glory ;  for  the  Son  is  the 
express  image  of  the  Father's  person  and  the 
brightness  of  his  glory  (Heb.  1  -.3).  "Jesus'  essence 
does  not  consist  in  his  merely  external  appear- 
ance, but  in  his  internal  relation  to  the  Father." 
— (Luthardt.)  Comp.  ch.  14  :  9,  where  the  lan- 
guage is  almost  precisely  the  same. — I  am  come 
a  li2;ht  into  the  world.  A  light  to  lead  to 
the  Father,  and  to  the  divine  life  which  is  lived 
only  by  communion  with  the  Father  through  the 
Spirit. — In  order  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  me  should  not  abide  in  darkness.  The 
object  of  Christ's  incarnation  and  atonement  is 
that  through  faith  in  him  we  may  be  delivered 
from  the  power  of  darkness  and  translated  into 
the  kingdom  of  God's  dear  Son  (coi.  1  :  13),  and 
thus  walk  no  longer  in  the  darkness  but  in  the 


light,  by  walking  in  fellowship  with  God  (1  John 
1:5-7;  2 : 8-11).  This  light  is  the  illumination  and 
inspiration  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  nature 
afforded  by  faith  in  and  a  life  of  following  after 
Jesus  Christ.     Comp.  ch.  8  :  12 ;  9  :  .5. 

47-50.  I  judge  him  not  *  *  *  *  The 
Avord  that  I  have  spoken  the  same  shall 
judge  him.  This  declaration  is  not  incon- 
sistent with  other  passages  of  the  N.  T.  which 
declare  that  Jesus  Christ  shall  judge  the  world 
(ch.  5 :  •25-27) ;  but  it  interprets  them.  That  judg- 
ment shall  not  be  an  arbitrary  one  ;  nor  one  pro- 
nounced by  a  judge  after  trial,  like  a  human 
judgment,  in  which  questions  of  law  and  fact 
are  involved.  The  book  of  each  man's  life  shall 
be  opened,  and  compared  with  the  life  of  Christ 
which  is  the  pattern  ;  and  the  life  and  teaching 
of  Christ  will  itself  be  the  judgment ;  the  com- 
parison will  be  conclusive  ;  there  will  be  no  need 
of  investigation  or  of  sentence.  Hence  every 
man  is  judging  and  condemning  himself,  and 
if  unrepentant  and  unpardoned  is  condemned 
already.  Comp.  ch.  3  :  18,  19;  5  :  45.  — He 
that  rejecteth  me  (u^iziuj).  Literally,  dis- 
places me.  To  reject  Christ  does  not  neces- 
sarily involve  a  deliberate  decision  against  him. 
Simply  putting  him  one  side  as  of  no  practical 
importance  is  a  rejection  of  him. — And  re- 
ceiveth not  my  words.  We  receive  them 
only  by  obeying  them.  See  Matthew  13  :  23. — 
Because  I  have  not  spoken  out  of  myself. 
Christ  is  not  the  ultimate  source  of  his  own 
authority.  His  words  are  divine  because  they 
are  God-given.  The  Father  is  the  reservoir  from 
whom  Christ  draws.  Compare  ch.  5  :  30 ;  7  : 
16-28;  8  :  26,  28,  38.— What  I  should  say 
and  what  I  should  speak.  "The  former  is 
to  be  understood  of  the  contents  and  the  latter 
of  the  external  act  of  speaking." — (Luthardt.) 
To  the  same  effect  Meyer.  The  double  expres- 
sion indicates  thit  not  only  the  substance  but 
also  the  form  and  method  of  expression  of  Christ's 
teaching  are  God- given. — And  I  know  that 
his  commandment  is  life  eternal.  It 
has  for  its  aim  to  produce  life  eternal ;  it  has 
for  its  subject-matter  the  conditions  and  nature 
of  life  eternal ;  it  is,  in  other  words,  the  law  of 
the  spiritual  life.  As  science  has  to  do  with  the 
laws  of  the  extenial,  so  Christianity  with  the 
laws  of  the  internal  or  spiritual  world.  Comp. 
ch.  6  :  63,  68.  There  is  a  weighty  significance  in 
the  words  "I  know."    By  his  own  acceptance 


162 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XIII. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

NOW  "  before  the  feast  of  the  passover,  when  Jesus 
knew  that  his  hour''  was  come  that  he  should 
depart  out  of  this  world  unto  the  Father,  having "  loved 
his  own  which  were  in  the  world,  he  loved  them  unto 
the  end. 


2  And  supper  being  ended,  the  "i  devil  having  now 
put  into  the  heart  of  Judas  Iscariot,  Simon's  jo«,  to 
betray  him  ; 

3  Jesus  knowing'  that  the  Father  had  given  all 
things  into  his  hands,  and  that '  he  was  come  from 
God,  and  went  to  God  ; 

4  He  riseth  from  supper,  and  laid  aside  his  garments  ; 
and  took  a  towel,  and  girded  himself. 


a  Matt.  26  :  2,  etc.. 


of  and  obedience  to  the  Father's  commands  Christ 
made,  as  it  were,  trial  of  them,  and  spoke  out  of 
his  own  personal  experience  of  their  value  and 
effect.  It  is  only  as  the  Christian  thus  knows 
and  speaks  that  his  testimony  is  effective  (2  Cor. 

4  :  13). 


Ch.  13  !  1-30.  CHRIST  WASHKS  HIS  DlSCIl'LES'  FEET 
AND  FORETELLS  HIS   BETRAYAL.— The   natueb   of 

HTTMILITT  LLLUSTRATED  :  NOT  SELP-ABASEMENT  BUT 
SELF-ABNEGATION  (3,4).— TRUST  AND  OBEDIENCE  HERE; 
KNOWLEDGE  HEREAFTER  (7).— ThE  DOUBLE  CLEANSING 

WROUGHT  BY  Christ  :  the  washing  of  the  whole 

NATURE  IN    regeneration  ;     THE  WASHING    AWAY  OF 

specific  SINS  IN  sanctification  (10).— Christ's 
designation  op  himself  :  master  and  lord  (13). — 
The  utility  and  the  inutility  of  ceremonial. — 
Christ  our  example  in  the  spirit  and  in  the 
letter  (14,  15).— The  office  op  prophecy  (19). — 
Christ  seen  bearing  the  sin  of  the  sinner  (21).— 
Christ's  endeavor  to  reclaim  the  irreclaimable 
(26-39). 

Preliminary  Note. — John  alone  of  the  Evan- 
gelists gives  no  account  of  the  institution  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  But  he  alone  gives  us  a  report 
of  the  last  words  of  Christ,  and  his  last  prayer 
with  his  disciples  at  the  time  of  the  institution 
of  the  Supper.  This  report  occupies  chapters 
13-17.  This  most  sacred  legacy  which  the  Lord 
has  left  to  his  disciples  can  never  be  interpreted 
except  by  the  heart  which  enters  into  the  secret 
place  of  the  Most  High.  All  that  the  commen- 
tator can  hope  to  do  is  to  point  out  the  siguili- 
cance  of  the  original,  and  the  connection  between 
the  various  parts  of  this  uninterpretable  disclo- 
sure of  divine  love.  That  the  supper  referred  to 
in  ver.  2  here  is  the  same  described  in  Matthew 
26  :  26-29,  Mark  14  :  22-2.5,  and  Luke  32  :  19,  20, 
I  think  is  beyond  question,  and  is  indeed  ques- 
tioned by  few  if  any  of  the  scholars  except  Light- 
foot,  who  endeavors  to  identify  it  with  the  sup- 
per at  which  Mary  anointed  the  feet  of  Jesus 
(Matt.  26 : 1-16 ;  John  12 : 2-8).  The  time  whcn  the  Last 
Supper  was  celebrated,  whether  it  was  a  true 
Paschal  feast  or  one  which  ante-dated  and  antici- 
pated it,  is  confessedly  one  of  the  most  difficult 
questions  in  Biblical  chronology.  If  we  had  only 
the  Synoptical  Gospels  no  one  would  doubt  that 
the  Last  Supper  was  the  real  Jewish  Passover ; 
if  we  had  only  John,  few  would  question  that  it 
was  previous  to  the  Passover.    This  question  I 


have  stated  and  discussed  in  the  notes  on  Mat- 
thew (note  on  Lord's  Supper,  Vol.  I,  p.  286),  and 
to  the  discussion  there  refer  the  student.  I  have 
no  doubt,  on  a  careful  comparison  of  the  four 
accounts,  that  the  four  Evangelists  refer  to  the 
same  supper,  and  that  it  was  taken  at  the  time 
of  and  was  for  them  the  true  Passover  SupjDer. 
In  that  case  Christ's  act  here  receives  new  signifi- 
cance from  a  comparison  with  the  events  recorded 
by  Luke  (ch.  22 :  24-30  and  notes).  The  disclplcs  sat 
down  to  the  meal  without  washing  their  feet, 
after  a  hot  and  dusty  walk.  There  was  no  ser- 
vant to  perform  the  menial  act  for  them ;  and 
no  one  would  volunteer  to  do  it  for  the  rest. 
They  quarreled  as  to  which  should  have  the  pre- 
eminence at  the  table.  Christ  said  nothing, 
waited  till  the  quarrel  was  over  and  they  had 
taken  their  seats,  and  then  rose  from  the  table, 
and  girding  himself  as  a  sei-vant,  performed  the 
slave's  office  in  washing  their  feet.  This  was  his. 
answer  to  their  unseemly  strife  for  the  post  of 
honor  at  the  table. 

1.  Now  before  the  feast  of  the  Pass- 
over. That  is,  immediately  before ;  just  as  he 
was  about  to  sit  down  with  his  disciples  to  the 
Paschal  feast. — Jesus  knew  that  his  hour 
was  come*  In  the  full  consciousness  of  his 
approaching  agony  and  passion.  At  the  time 
when  above  all  others  he  needed  that  friends 
should  sustain  him,  he  carried  them  in  his  heart ; 
their  burdens  were  his  own. — Having  loved 
his  OAvn  which  were  in  the  world,  he 
loved  them  unto  the  end.  The  end  both  in 
time  and  in  accomplishment ;  that  is,  he  loved 
them  tUl  death  broke  in  on  his  life  of  love  ;  he 
loved  them  till  love  had  finished  its  purpose  in 
them  by  their  redemption — loved  them  despite 
their  quarrels  and  contentions,  that  by  love  he 
might  brood  and  perfect  the  new  life  in  them. 
Propierly  the  word  (rtAoc  Tikiw)  signifies  not 
merely  end  but  also  com^juletion.  So  in  1  Thess. 
3  :  16  :  "Wrath  is  come  upon  them,  to  the  iitter- 
iiiost^'  (tie  rikoc),  i.  e.,  till  it  has  accomplished  its 
purpose  ;  and  1  Tim.  1 :  5,  "  The  end  of  the  com- 
mandment is  love,"  i.  e.,  love  is  the  purpose 
which  the  commandment  is  designed  to  accom- 
plish. The  phrase  hix  own  which  were  in  tlie 
world,  does  not  imply  a  limitation  of  love,  as 
though  his  love  were  for  a  limited  number ;  but 
it  is  only  in  his  own  that  his  love  accomplishes- 


Ch.  XIIL] 


JOHN. 


163 


5  After  that  he  poureth  water  into  a  bason,  and  began 
to  wash  the  disciples'  teet,  and  to  wipe  tliein  with  the 
towel  wherewith  he  was  girded. 

6  Then  cometh  he  to  Simon  Peter :  and  Peter  saith 
unto  him,  Lord,  dosts  thou  wash  my  leet  ? 


7  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him.  What  I  do  thou 
knowest  not  now  ;  but  thou  shalt  know  hereafter. 

8  Peter  saith  unto  him,  Thou  shalt  never  wash  my 
feet.  Jesus  answered  him,  If"  I  wash  thee  not,  thou 
hast  no  part  with  me. 


g  Matt.  3  :  14 hi  Cor.  6:11;  Ephes.  5  :  26  ;  Titus  3  :  5. 


its  designs.  The  language  does  imply  that  he 
has  others  who  are  his  own  who  are  not  in  this 
world;  either  the  0.  T.  saints  who  had  died  in 
hope  of  him,  or  inhabitants  of  some  other  world 
who  belong  to  him  by  the  purchase  of  his  love, 
who  are  his  own  because  redeemed  by  his  blood 

(Acts  20  :  28  ;   Rev.  5  :  9). 

2-G.  And  supper  beiiis;  in  progress.    Not 

hemg  ended  ;  for  (ver.  12) 
he  sat  down  to  supper 
again ;  nor  does  the 
original  require  the 
translation  given  to  it 
in  our  English  version 
(see  Godet,  Alford, 
Meyer).  Christ  waited 
till  all  contention  was 
over,  all  had  taken 
their  seats  and  were 
ready  to  begin  the 
meal,  before  he  rose 
to  wash  their  feet. — 
The  devil  having 
already  dropped 
into  the  heart  of 
Judas  Iscariot  to 
betray  him.  The 
devil  was  the  sower, 
but  the  soil  was  ready 
to  receive  the  seed.  A 
past  suggestion  is  in- 
dicated. The  time 
when  and  the  way  in 
which  this  suggestion 
was  made  is  reported 
by  Matthew.  It  was  at 
the  time  when  Christ 
rebuked  Judas  for 
complaining  of  the 
anointing  of  her  Lord 
by  Mary   at    Bethany 

(comp.  John  12  :  4-7  with  Matt. 

26 :  u). — Jesus  know- 
ing that  the  Father  had  given  all  things 
into  his  hands.  See  Col.  1  :  16.  He  acted  in 
the  full  consciousness  of  his  divine  power  and 
majesty.  Humility  consists  not  in  a  low  estimate 
of  one's  powers,  but  in  a  willingness  to  use  them 
in  a  lowly  service. — That  he  was  come  from 
God  and  went  to  God.  This  divine  sense 
shone  out  in  him,  so  that  it  was  seen  and  felt  by 
the  apostles,  perhaps  most  of  all  by  John,  who 
was  the  most  susceptible  to  such  spii'itual  im- 


WASHING   OF   FEET. 


pressions.  For  illustration  of  other  times  in 
which  the  divinity  of  our  Lord  thus  shone  out 
upon  men,  see  Matt.  21 :  13  ;  Mark  9  : 1.5 ;  10  :  33 ; 
Luke  4  :  20,  30  ;  John  7  :  44-46 ;  18  :  6.— He  laid 
aside  his  garments  {li.iutiu).  His  outer  man- 
tle or  cloak  (see  note  on  Matt.  24 :  is).  Then  tile  inner 
tunic  was  girded  about  the  loins  with  a  towel, 
used  partly  in  Ueu  of  a  girdle,  partly  to  wipe  the 
feet.  Thus  Christ  put 
on  the  ordinary  habit 
of  a  servant  for  a  ser- 
vant's work.  In  this 
feet-washing  the  feet 
were  not  put  into  the 
basin ;  the  water  was 
poured  over  the  feet 
and  then  they  were 
wiped  by  the  servant. 
The  accompanying  cut, 
from  an  original  sketch 
by  Mr.  A.  L.  Kawson, 
shows  the  manner  of 
feet-washing,  dress  of 
servant,  etc.,  as  ob- 
served to-day  in  the 
East.  —  And  began 
to  wash  the  disci- 
ples' feet.  Some  of 
the  commentators  sup- 
jiose  that  he  came  first 
to  Simon  Peter  (Al- 
ford) ;  but  I  see  no 
ground  in  the  narra- 
tive for  this  supposi- 
tion, which  indeed 
seems  to  me  to  be  nega- 
tived by  the  natural 
reading  of  the  origi- 
nal. The  objection  of 
Peter  was  an  unex- 
pected episode  and  in- 
terruption. So  Meyer, 
Chrysostotn,  and  others. 
Feet-washing  did  not  rise  to  the  dignity  of  a 
ritualistic  observance,  except  in  connection  with 
the  service  of  the  sanctuary  (Eiod.  3o :  19-21).  It 
held  a  high  place,  however,  among  the  rites  of 
hospitality.  "Immediately  after  a  guest  pre- 
sented himself  at  the  tent  door,  it  was  usual  to 
offer  the  necessary  materials  for  washing  the 

feet  (Gen.  18  :  4  ;    19  :  2  ;    24  :  32  ;   43  :  24  ;   Judges  19  :  2l).      It 

was  a  yet  more  complimentary  act  betokening 
equally  humility  and  affection,  if  the  host  actually 


164 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XIII. 


9  Simon  Peter  saith  unto  him,  Lord,  not  my  feet  only, 
but  also  my  hands  and  my  head. 

10  Jesus  saith  to  him.  He  that  is  washed  needeth  not 
save  to  wash  his  feet,  but  is  clean  every  whit :  and  ye 
are  clean,  but  not  all. 

11  For'  he  knew  who  should  betray  him;  therefore 
said  he.  Ye  are  not  all  clean. 


12  So  after  he  had  washed  their  feet,  and  had  taken 
his  garments,  and  was  set  down  again,  he  said  unto 
them.  Know  ye  what  I  have  done  to  you  ? 

13  VeJ  call  me  Master  and  Lord:  and  ye  say  well ; 
for  so  I  am. 

14  If  I  th^n,  your  Lord  and  Master,  have  washed 
your  feet ;  ye  also  ought  to  wash  one  another's  feet. 


i  chap.  6  :  64 j  Matt.  23  :  8-10  ;  Phil.  2:11. 


performed  the  office  for  his  guest  (i  Sam.  25  :  4i ; 

Luke  7  :  38-49  ;  John  13  :  5-14  ;  1  Tim.  6  :  10).       Such    a  token 

of  hospitality  is  occasionally  exhibited  in  the 
East  either  by  the  host  or  by  his  deputy.  The 
feet  were  again  washed  (soi.  song  5 ;  3)  before  re- 
tiring to  bed." — {Smith's  Bible  Dictionary.) — 
Dost  thou  wash  my  feet  ?  There  is  an  em- 
phasis on  the  word  thou.  Dost  thou,  my  Lord 
and  Master,  act  as  my  menial?  "'With  those 
hands,'  he  saith,  'with  which  thou  hast  opened 
eyes,  and  cleansed  lepers,  and  raised  the  dead  ! '  " 
— ( Chrijsostom. ) 

7,  8.  Thou  knowest  not  now  ;  but  thou 
shall  know  hereafter.  The  meaning  is  not 
merely  that  he  would  explain  to  them  the  sig- 
nificance of  his  act,  nor  that  they  would  under- 
stand it  and  him  in  the  future  kingdom,  though 
both  may  be  indicated.  But  spiritual  truth  is 
only  spiritually  discerned  (1  Cor.  2 :  14,  15),  and  the 
most  significant  acts  and  teachings  of  Christ  can 
be  comprehended  only  as  the  character  is  con- 
formed to  his  character  (2  Pet.  1  :  li-s).  The  mean- 
ing for  Peter  was  that  he  must  submit  to  Christ's 
authority  and  wait  tUl  time  and  spiritual  develop- 
ment enabled  him  to  understand  it ;  the  meaning 
for  us  is  that  if  Christ  is  our  Master,  we  must 
accept  in  his  word,  his  life  and  his  providence 
much  that  is  now  incomprehensible,  and  wait  for 
the  future  to  make  it  i^lain.  But  if  this  implies  a 
limit  to  our  present  knowledge,  it  also  promises 
revelation  hereafter.  "Thou  shalt  know"  as- 
sures that  all  will  be  made  plain  by-and-by. — 
Thou  shalt  never  wash  my  feet.  Literally, 
Thou  shalt  not  wash  my  feet  to  eternity.  Pride  in 
Peter  could  not  comprehend  humility  in  Christ. 
He  thought  the  act,  which  was  a  manifestation 
of  the  true  glory  of  the  Lord,  dishonored  him. 
The  same  spirit  in  our  day  accounts  the  declara- 
tion of  the  incarnation  and  of  the  atonement  dis- 
honorable to  God  ;  it  sees  no  glory  in  the  humilia- 
tion of  love. — If  I  wash  thee  not,  thou  hast 
no  part  with  me.  The  phrase  to  have  2Mrt 
with  another  signifies  to  share  in  his  riches  and 
glory  (josh.  22 :  25;  2  Sam.  20 :  i).  Here  it  includes 
the  idea  of  a  partnership  in  the  divine  nature  of 
Christ  (2  Pet.  1  : 4)  as  well  as  in  the  glory  of  Christ 
which  he  has  with  the  Father  (john  n  :  22-26 ;  Rev. 
20 :  6).  Washing  was,  it  must  be  remembered,  a 
symbolical  act,  recognized  so  among  the  Jews, 
and  signifying  purification  from  uncleanness. 
Christ's  act  in  rising  from  the  table  and  washing 


the  feet  of  the  disciples  was  the  severest  rebuke 
to  their  pride.  See  Prel.  Note.  Peter's  refusal 
to  be  washed  was  a  resistance  to  this  rebuke. 
That  Christ's  language  was  understood  by  Peter 
to  signify  a  spiritual  cleansing  is  indicated  by  his 
reply. 

9-12.  Not  my  feet  only,  but  also  the 
hands  and  the  head.  This  is  generally  re- 
garded as  the  expression  of  an  impulsive  revul- 
sion of  feeling  in  Peter.  "AVe  have  here  the 
same  Peter  who  one  minute  rushes  into  the  water, 
and  the  next  calls  out  'I  perish';  who  now 
smites  with  the  sword  and  now  flees  ;  who  goes 
even  into  the  high  priest's  palace  and  who  denies 
his  Lord." — (Godet.)  I  should  rather  regard  it 
as  the  language  of  argument  and  remonstrance 
still  continued.  "If,"  he  says  in  eilect,  "this  is 
the  reason  of  your  washing,  why  stop  with  the 
feet?  why  not  go  on  and  wash  the  rest,  the 
hands  and  the  head?"  i.  e.,  the  face  and  neck. 
To  this  argument  Christ  replies — He  that  is 
bathed  needeth  not  save  to  wash  the  feet, 
but  is  wholly  clean.  In  the  original  there  is 
a  distinction  between  bathing  of  the  whole  person 
and  washing  of  the  feet  which  our  English  trans- 
lation ignores,  but  which  is  important.  The 
meaning  is,  As  he  that  has  been  once  bathed,  and 
so  cleansed,  needs  only  to  wash  what  has  become 
soiled  in  his  walk,  so  he  who  by  the  washing  of 
regeneration  has  been  once  cleansed  of  his  sins 
(Titus  3:5),  needs  only  to  come  to  Christ  hereafter 
for  partial  cleansing,  i.  e.,  for  forgiveness  and 
redemption  from  those  sins  which  are  in  some 
sense  the  product  of  his  daily  walk  and  life.  He 
does  not  need  to  come  again  and  again  for  the 
washing  of  regeneration,  but  only  for  the  cleans- 
ing of  special  faults.  But  even  he  who  has  been 
bathed  still  needs  to  be  constantly  washed  by 
Christ  (1  John  1  : 8, 9). — Ye  are  not  all  clean. 
Not  all  that  seem  to  have  come  to  Christ  and  to 
have  entered  his  service,  are  really  cleansed  by 
him  (Matt.  7  :  21-23).— He  knew  who  should 
betray  him.  Among  those  whose  feet  were 
washed  was  Judas.  No  love  can  touch  or  change 
the  heart  resolutely  set  to  do  evil.— Know  ye 
what  I  have  done  to  you  ?  That  is,  do  you 
comprehend  the  reason  why  it  is  done,  and  the 
meaning  of  the  action.  The  disciples  are  silent. 
In  the  following  verses  Christ  goes  on  to  explain 
its  significance. 

13-17.  Ye  call  me  the  Master  (literally 


Ch.  XIII.] 


JOHN. 


165 


15  For "'  I  have  given  you  an  example,  that  ye  should 
do  as  I  have  done  to  you. 

16  V^erily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  The  servant  is  not 
greater  than  his  lord ;  neither  he  that  is  sent  greater 
than  he  that  sent  him. 


17  If  ye  know  these  things,  happy  are  ye  if  ye  do 
them. 

18  I  speak  not  of  you  all:  I  know  whom  I  have 
chosen:  but  that  the™  scripture  may  be  fulfilled.  He 
that  eateth  bread  with  me,  hath  lifted  up  his  heel 
against  me. 


k  1  Pet.  3  :  SI ....  1  James  1  :  S5 . . . .  m  Pb.  41 :  9. 


Teacher)  and  the  Lord.  Observe  the  definite 
article,  not  merely  a  tuaeher,  or  your  teacher, 
but  t/ie  tuacher  and  the  Lord.  For  instances  in 
which  they  had  done  so,  see  ver.  0,  9,  2.5,  30,  37 ; 
ch.  14  :  5,  8,  22.  Stress  is  perhaps  not  to  be  laid 
on  the  fact  that  the  phrase  the  Lord  {<>  y.vQun)  is 
used  in  the  Septuagint  (Greek  O.  T.)  for  Jeho- 
vah ;  but  it  certainly  is  here  more  than  a  mere 
title  of  respectful  address ;  and  the  declaration 
of  Christ  here,  coupled  with  the  declaration  of 
Matthew  33  :  8,  One  is  your  Master  (Teacher),  and 
all  ye  are  brethren,  distinguishes  him  clearly  from 
his  disciples,  as  not  merely  the  chosen  leader 
among  them,  but  having  a  divine  authority  over 
them. — Ye  say  well ;  for  1  am.  The  humble 
office  of  feet- washing  had  been  done  by  one  who 
was  not  only  fully  conscious  of  his  supremacy, 
but  who  in  the  very  act  claimed  that  supremacy. 
This  divine  authority  Christ  never  abdicated  ;  his 
divine  consciousness  he  never  lost. — If  I  then, 
the  Lord  and  the  Master.  The  Lord,  not 
merely  your  Lord.  He  might  have  been  their 
Lord  and  teacher  by  their  selection  ;  he  was  the 
Lord  and  teacher  by  divine  appointment,  and  by 
virtue  of  his  own  character. — Ye  also  ought 
to  wash  one  another's  feet.  If  we  are  to 
interpret  literally  the  commands  of  Christ,  the 
command  of  feet-washing  as  a  perpetual  observ- 
ance is  even  more  explicit  than  that  for  the 
observance  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  That  is  in 
form  a  simple  request:  "Do  this  in  remem- 
brance of  me  ;  "  this  is  a  request  thrice  repeated  : 
"Te  ought  also  to  wash  one  another's  feet;" 
"I  have  given  you  an  example  that  ye  should 
do  as  I  have  done  to  you  ;  "  "If  ye  know  these 
things,  happy  are  ye  if  ye  do  them."  Neverthe- 
less feet-washing  has  never  been  generally  prac- 
tised by  the  Christian  church.  There  is  no  indi- 
cation of  its  introduction  into  the  apostolic 
church.  The  only  reference  to  it  in  the  N.  T.  is 
1  Tim.  5  :  10,  and  the  probability  is  that  the 
reference  there  is  to  a  rite  of  hospitality,  not  to 
a  religious  or  symbolical  service.  We  first  meet 
with  feet-washing  in  ecclesiastical  history  in  the 
fourth  century.  It  was  practised  in  connection 
with  baptism,  on  the  catechumens  in  some  parts 
of  the  early  church,  especially  in  Gaul,  possibly 
in  Africa  and  Spain.  It  is  practised  in  some  of 
the  Greek  convents  of  to-day ;  by  the  R.  C. 
church  once  a  year  on  Maunday-Thursday,  when 
the  Pope  washes  the  feet  of  twelve  pilgrims  in 
Rome ;  and  by  the  Brethren  (popularly  known  as 


Dunkards),  a  sect  of  German  Baptists  chiefly 
found  in  Pennsylvania;  the  Mennonites,  a  sect 
of  Dutch  Anabaptists,  chiefly  confined  also  to 
the  eastern  district  of  Pennsylvania  in  this  coun- 
try ;  and  possibly  by  some  other  minor  sects. 
With  these  exceptions,  it  has  never  been  at- 
tempted to  maintain  feet-washing  as  a  religious 
observance  in  the  Christian  church.  This  appar- 
ent disregard  of  Christ's  seemingly  explicit  com- 
mand can  be  defended  only  on  the  general  ground 
that  no  ceremonial  is  of  the  essence  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  that  the  thing  symbolized,  not  the  sym- 
bol, here  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  and  serving 
love,  not  the  form  by  which  it  is  typified,  is  the 
essential  thing ;  that  as  eating  the  bread  and 
drinking  the  wine,  not  discerning  the  Lord's 
body  (i  Cor.  11  :  29),  is  not  a  true  observance  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  so,  on  the  other  hand,  the  spirit 
that  is  willing  to  serve  others  to  their  cleansing, 
in  humbleness  of  love,  is  a  true  observance  of 
the  rite  of  feet-washing,  though  the  rite  itself  is 
disused.  "It  is  not  the  act  itself,  but  its  moral 
essence  which,  after  his  example,  he  enjoins  upon 
them  to  exercise.  This  moral  essence,  however, 
consists  not  in  lowly  and  ministering  love  gen- 
erally, in  which  Jesus  by  washing  the  feet  of  his 
disciples  desired  to  give  them  an  example,  but, 
ah  ver.  10  proves,  in  that  ministering  love  which, 
in  all  self-denial  and  humility,  is  active  for  the 
moral  purification  and  cleansing  of  others." — 
(Meyer.)— I  have  given  you  an  example. 
It  is  the  inward  spirit  of  Christ,  not  the  mere 
outward  act,  that  is  an  example  for  us  to  follow  ; 
the  cleansing  love,  not  the  girded  garment  and 
the  washing  of  feet,  that  is  our  pattern.  For  the 
spiritual  signification  of  this  declaration,  see 
ch.  17  :  18  ;  1  John  3  :  16.— The  servant  is  not 
greater,  etc.  The  repetition  of  this  seemingly 
self-evident  truth  indicates  that  Christ  appre- 
hended for  his  followers  that  spiritual  pride 
which  has  been  in  the  history  of  the  church 
almost  their  greatest  danger.  See  ch.  1.5  :  20  ; 
Matt.  10  :  24;  Luke  6  :  40.— If  ye  know  these 
things.  This  language  itself  should  have  suf- 
ficed to  guard  against  the  literalism  which  would 
maintain  feet-washing  as  a  perpetual  ceremonial. 
Know  what  things  ?  That  he  had  washed  their 
feet  ?  Of  course  they  knew  that.  The  meaning 
clearly  is.  If  ye  understand  the  meaning  of  my 
act,  happy  are  ye  if  ye  exemplify  the  same  spirit 
in  your  lives,  i^r  contra,  he  that  does  not  know, 
that   does   not   comprehend  the  spirit,   is  not 


166 


JOHN. 


[Oh.  XIII. 


iQ  Now  I  tell"  you  before  it  come,  that,  when  it  is  I  whomsoever  I  send  receiveth  me:  and  he  that  receiv- 
come  to  pass,  ye  may  believe  that  I  am  he.  eth  me  receiveth  him  that  sent  me. 

20  Verily  verily.  1  say  unto  you,"  He  that  receiveth         21  When  p  Jesus  had  thus  said,  he  was  troubled  in 


ch.  14  :  29  ;  16  :  4 o  Matt.  10  :  40 p  Matt.  26  :  21 ;  Mark  14  :  18  j  Luke  22  :  21. 


blessed  in  goins  through  the  mere  form,  and  this 
is  equally  true  respecting  all  ceremonials.  He 
only  is  blessed  in  them  who  comprehends  their 
spiritual  significance. 

18-20.  I  speak  not  of  you  all.  The  high- 
est service  of  Christ  is  serviceable  only  to  those 
who  will  receive  it.  The  fact  that  Christ  washed 
the  feet  of  Judas,  and  broke  bread  with  him, 
added  to  the  blackness  of  his  treachery  and  the 
enormity  of  his  guilt.  The  church,  the  Bible, 
the  Sabbath,  the  Lord's  Supper  will  rise  up  in 
judgment  against  those  who  have  participated 
in  them  but  have  not  imbibed  the  spirit  of  Christ 
from  them. — I  know  whom  I  have  chosen. 
Couijle  this  with  the  declaration  of  ch.  1.5  :  16, 
"Ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but  I  have  chosen 
you."  The  meaning  is  that  Christ  comprehended 
the  character  of  those  whom  he  had  selected  for 
his  work ;  he  was  not  deceived ;  and  he  is  not 
now  deceived  by  false  professions,  however  they 
may  deceive  the  church,  the  world,  and  even  the 
false  professor  himself.  Why  Christ  should  have 
chosen  Judas  is  one  of  the  unsolved  enigmas  of 
N.  T.  history.  We  can  see  (1)  that  there  was  in 
every  apostle  the  same  conflict  between  the 
spiritual  and  the  earthly  nature  which  there  was 
in  Judas  Iscariot,  though  the  final  issue  was  so 
different.  (3)  We  cannot  say  that  there  was  not 
a  possibility  that  it  might  have  been  dtfiferent  in 
the  case  of  Judas  Iscariot.  In  other  words,  we 
cannot  say  what  are  the  limits  to  the  freedom  of 
the  will,  what  the  possibility  of  good  for  the 
evil  soul,  what  the  possibility  of  evil  for  him  who 
is  preserved  from  it  by  accepting  the  grace  of 
God  and  so  becoming  his  child.  (3.)  The  case  of 
Judas  Iscariot  has  been  full  of  warning  to  the 
church  in  all  ages  ;  thus  the  development  of  his 
character  in  the  apostolate  has  been  made  a 
means  of  service  to  mankind.  His  spirit  was 
that  of  the  Pharisee  ;  his  position  simply  gave 
that  spirit  an  opportunity  to  exhibit  itself. — 
But  that  the  Scripture  might  be  fulfilled, 
He  that  eateth  bread  with  me  hath  lifted 
up  his  heel  as^ainst  me,  now  I  tell  you 
before  it  come.  Observe  the  difference  in 
the  punctuation,  from  that  of  the  English  ver- 
sion. The  meaning  is  not,  I  have  chosen  Judas 
that  the  Scripture  might  be  fulfilled.,  for  (1)  this 
interpretation,  though  that  of  Alford  and  Meyer, 
requires  us  to  supply  or  imagine  a  most  impor- 
tant hiatus  in  the  text.  Christ  says  nothing 
about  his  choice  of  Judas ;  he  lays  emphasis  on 
the  fact  that  all  the  twelve  were  chosen  by  him, 
and  therefore  all  were  known  to  him.     Nor  is 


the  meaning,  I  speak,  not  of  you  all,  in  order  that 
the  Scripture  may  be  fulfilled,  which  would  make 
Christ  withhold  a  blessing  for  the  purpose  of 
fulfilling  a  prophecy,  an  incredible  interi^reta- 
tion.  But  that  the  Scripture  (which  he  paren- 
thetically quotes)  tnay  be  fulfilled,  i.  e.,  that  the 
disciples  may  recognize  its  fulfillment  in  the 
events  soon  to  take  place,  /  -now  tell  you  before  it 
is  come  to  pass.  Thus  the  particle  but  {dXXu)  con- 
nects this  sentence  not  with  the  declaration  which 
l^recedes,  but  with  that  which  follows.  The 
Scriiiture  is  Psalm  41  :  9,  The  Psalm  is  clearly 
not,  in  strictness  of  speech,  a  prophetic  Psalm, 
uttered  as  by  the  Messiah,  for  ver.  4  contains  a 
confession  of  sin  and  a  prayer  for  redemption. 
"I  said,  Lord  be  merciful  unto  me  and  heal  ray 
soul;  fori  have  sinned  against  thee."  In  that 
Psalm,  ver.  9,  "Yea  mine  ovra  familiar  friend 
in  whom  I  trusted,  which  did  eat  of  my  bread, 
hath  lifted  up  his  heel  against  me,"  primarily 
refers  to  some  treachery  displayed  towards  the 
Psalmist,  perhaps  that  of  Ahithophel  to  David 
(2  Ssm.  15 :  31 ;  16 :  23).  But  cvcnts  as  wcU  as  words 
are  prophetic ;  and  the  treachery  of  Ahithophel 
towards  David  was  itself  a  prophecy  of  the 
treachery  of  Judas  towards  David's  greater  Son. 
To  eat  bread  with  another  is,  in  the  East,  the 
highest  possible  confirmation  of  a  sacred  cove- 
nant with  him.  To  lift  up  the  heel  is  a  figure 
taken  from  the  kick  of  a  horse,  who  turns  sud- 
denly upon  one  who  has  been  feeding  him.  This 
seems  to  me  a  better  interpretation  than  that  of 
Canon  Cook,  who  sees  in  it  a  figure  taken  from 
the  act  of  a  conqueror  putting  his  heel  on  the 
neck  of  a  prostrate  foe. — That  when  it  is 
come  to  pass  ye  may  believe  that  I  am. 
The  office  of  prophecy  is  here  intimated.  It  is 
not  designed  to  give  us  in  the  present  a  definite 
knowledge  of  future  events.  The  most  spirit- 
ually minded  among  the  Jews  did  not  com- 
prehend the  O.  T.  prophecy  of  Christ,  and  did 
not  understand  the  nature  of  his  advent.  It  is 
rather  so  to  depict  the  future  as  (1)  to  awaken 
hope  or  serve  as  a  warning;  and  (3)  to  serve  as 
an  evidence  of  the  inspiration  of  the  writer  of 
the  book  after  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy 
has  demonstrated  the  prescience  of  the  author. 
On  the  phrase  /  am,  see  ch.  8  :  58,  note. — He 
that  receiveth  you,  etc.  See  Matt.  10:40, 
note,  where  the  same  declaration  is  made  in  a 
different  connection.  Here  Christ,  in  order  to  en- 
courage the  disciples,  reiterates  a  principle  with 
which  they  were  already  familiar.  Although, 
he  says,  you  are  to  serve  in  humble  ways,  as  I 


Ch.  XIIL] 


JOHN. 


167 


spirit,  and  testified,  and  said.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
you,  that  one  ol  you  shall  betray  me. 

22  Then  the  disciples  looked  one  on  another,  doubt- 
ing of  whom  he  spake. 


23  Now  there  was  leaning  on  Jesus'  bosom  onei  of 
his  disciples,  whom  Jesus  loved. 

24  Simon  Peter  therefore  beckoned  to  him,  that  he 
should  ask  who  it  should  be  of  whom  he  spake. 


q  ch.  20  :  2  ;  21  :  7,  20. 


have  served  you,  and  although  you  will  meet 
with  many  a  discouraging  rebufE  from  without 
and  with  treachery  from  among  your  own  num- 
ber, yet  you  are  not  to  forget  that  you  are  sent 
into  the  world  as  your  Master  was  sent  into  the 
world,  so  that  to  receive  you  will  be  to  receive 
me. 

21,  22.  An  account  of  this  prophecy  of  the 
betrayal  is  given  by  all  the  Evangelists  (Matt. 

26  :  21-25  ;    Mark  U  :  lS-21 ;    Luke  22  :  21-23).      ScC  UOteS  OU 

Matthew.  There  is  some  difficulty  in  determining 
the  exact  nature  and  order  of  the  events,  though 
not  more  than  we  might  expect  in  a  comparison  of 
four  independent  accounts  of  circumstances  in- 
volved in  so  great  confusion.  The  fullest  account 
is  that  of  John.  He  alone  mentions  Judas'  depar- 
ture from  the  room.  Matthew  declares  that 
Christ  replied  directly  in  the  affirmative  to  Judas' 
question,  Is  it  I  ?  John,  on  the  other  hand, 
asserts  that  no  one  in  the  room  knew  why  Judas 

went    out    (comp.  Matt.  26  :  25  with  vers.  28,  29  here).      The 

differences  are  not  irreconcilable.  Comparing 
the  four  accounts,  it  would  appear  that  Christ's 
declaration,  "One  of  you  shall  betray  me,"  pro- 
duced the  utmost  consternation  and  excitement ; 
that  all  the  disciples  eagerly  asked,  "Is  it  1?" 
"Is  it  I?"  that  Peter  asked  John  to  tell  him 
who  it  was,  assuming  that  John  knew,  or  could 
ascertain  (see  ver.  24) ;  that  at  the  same  time  Judas, 
thunderstruck  at  the  disclosure  of  his  treachery, 
which  had  been  already  planned  (.Matt.  26 :  i4-r.)) 
asked,  perhaps  somewhat  tardily,  the  question, 
"Is  it  I?"  to  hide  his  confusion;  that  Jesus 
replied  in  an  aside  to  him,  "Thou  hast  said" 
(Matt.  26 ;  25),  a  reply  that  in  the  confusion  either 
was  not  heard  or  was  not  heeded ;  that  John, 
turning  toward  Jesus  so  as  to  rest  upon  his 
bosom  (ver.  25),  asked  who  the  betrayer  should 
be  ;  that  Jesus  seemed  to  give  the  information, 
but  really  refused  to  do  so,  in  his  reply,  "He  it 
is  to  whom  I  shall  give  a  sop  "  (ver.  26),  since  he 
gave  a  sop  in  turn  to  all ;  so  that  when  a  mo- 
ment or  two  later  Judas  went  out  angered  by 
what  he  erroneously  believed  to  be  a  public  dis- 
closure of  his  treachery  before  all  the  disciples, 
no  one,  not  even  John,  knew  why  he  had  gone. 
The  question  whether  Judas  was  at  the  Lord's 
Supper  has  been  greatly  discussed.  The  ques- 
tion seems  to  me  of  no  practical  importance  ; 
and  it  is  one  impossible  to  answer  with  posi- 
tiveaess,  for  John,  who  alone  mentions  his  going 
out,  gives  no  account  of  the  institution  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.    I  believe,  however,  on  a  com- 


parison of  the  four  accounts,  that  he  was  not  at 
the  Last  Supper,  but  went  out  immediately  be- 
fore its  institution.  According  to  Matthew,  the 
prophecy  of  the  betrayal  preceded  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Supper ;  according  to  John,  Judas 
went  out  immediately   after    receiving  the  sop 

(comp.  Matt.  26  :  25,  26  with  ver.  30  here).  And  the  expla- 
nation of  Christ's  course,  as  described  by  John, 
appears  to  me  to  be  his  desire  to  have,  in  this 
last  sacred  conference,  only  those  who  were 
really  his  friends,  and  measurably  in  spiritual 
sympathy  with  him.  This  I  beUeve  to  be  the 
explanation  of  the  direction  to  Judas  in  ver.  27. 
For  an  elaborate  discussion  of  this  question,  see 
Andrews'  Life  of  our  Lord  ;  for  a  fuller  harmonic 
account  of  the  events,  Lyman  Abbott's  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.— He  was  troubled  in  spirit.  Com- 
pare ch.  11  :  33 ;  12  :  27,  Our  own  experience 
helps  to  interpret  this,  which  Alford  calls  a 
"  mysterious  troubling  of  spirit."  The  presence 
of  an  uncongenial  soul  often  suffices  to  destroy 
the  sympathy  of  a  sacred  circle;  the  presence 
of  a  known  traitor  might  well  have  prevented 
Christ  from  an  outpouring  of  his  soul  in  confiden- 
tial converse  which  renders  the  14th,  15th,  16th 
and  17th  chapters  of  John  the  most  sacred  in  the 
Bible  to  the  disciples  of  Christ.— One  of  you 
shall  betray  me.  Christ  had  before  foretold 
his  betrayal.  Matt.  17  :  22 ;  20  :  18 ;  26  :  2,  etc., 
but  now  for  the  first  time  he  declares  that  he 
should  be  betrayed  by  one  of  the  twelve.  No 
wonder  that  they  were  startled. — The  disci- 
ples looked  one  on  another  doubting  of 
Avhom  he  spake.  And  asking  one  another 
(Luke  22 :  23)  and  eagerly  asking  Christ  (Matt.  26 :  22 ; 
Mark  14  :  19).  Not  ouc  of  them  vcnturcs  to  ques- 
tion the  truth  of  the  Lord's  prophecy,  and  each 
asks  the  personal  question,  "Is  it  I  ?  "  No  one 
accuses,  even  by  implication,  his  neighbor.  Is 
not  this  a  pattern  for  us  in  that  self-examination 
which  should  always  precede  our  seasons  of 
sacred  communion  with  our  Lord  (i  Cor.  ii  :  28)  ? 
an  examination  which  should  look  forward  rather 
than  backward ;  prepare  for  the  future  rather 
than  attempt  to  measure  the  past ;  and  always 
be  a  self  examination. 

23-25.  There  was  leaning  on  Jesus' 
bosom.  The  party  were  reclining  at  the  table 
according  to  the  Greek  and  Roman  fashion. 
For  illustration,  which  better  than  any  descrip- 
tion shows  the  manner,  see  Matt.  26  :  20,  note. 
John  was  lying  next  to  Jesus.— Whom  Jesus 
loved.     "Here,  out  of  the  recollection  of  that 


168 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XIIL 


25  He  then  lying  on  Jesus'  breast  saith  unto  him, 
Lord,  who  is  it? 

26  Jesus  answered,  He  it  is,  to  whom  I  shall  give  a 
sop,  when  I  have  dipped  it.    And  when  he  had  dipped 


the  sop,  he  gave    it   to  Judas    Iscariot,  the  son  of 
Simon. 

27  And  after  the  sop  Satan  ■■  entered  into  him.    Thea 
said  Jesus  unto  him,  That  thou  doest,  do  quickly. 


r  Luke  22  :  3. 


sacred  and  by  him  never-to-be-forgotten  moment, 
there  first  breaks  from  his  lips  this  nameless, 
and  yet  so  expressive  designation  of  himself." — 
(Meyer.)  The  phrase  "whom  Jesus  loved" 
occurs  seven  times  in  John's  Gospel ;  twice  as  a 
designation  of  Martha,  Mary  and  Lazarus  (John 
11  : 3, 5) ;  five  times  as  the  designation  of  one  of 

the  disciples  (John  13  :  23  ;    19  :  26  ;    20  :  2  ;    21  :  7  ;    21  :  20). 

It  has  been  almost  universally  regarded  as  a 
designation  of  John,  the  author  of  the  Fourth 
Gospel,  who  is  accordingly  known  in  the  church 
as  the  "beloved  disciple,"  though  this  designa- 
tion is  not  found  in  the  Gospels  themselves.  The 
main  reasons  for  this  opinion  are  two.  (1)  John 
is  not  once  named  in  the  Fourth  Gospel,  while 
an  unnamed  disciple  is  frequently  referred  to 

(John  1  :  35,  40  ;  18  :  15  ;  19  :  27  ;    21  :  3,  4,  8  ;  21  :  23  j  and  see  refs. 

above).  It  is  not  casy  to  conceive  of  any  reason 
why  the  author  should  leave  unnamed  any  other 
disciple,  but  it  is  not  at  all  strange  that  he  should 
use  a  circumlocution  to  designate  himself. 
(2)  His  character,  so  far  as  we  know  it,  corre- 
sponds with  his  designation  as  the  "beloved  dis- 
ciple." See  Introduction.  It  has  been,  indeed, 
objected  that  there  is  a  certain  appearance  of 
egotism  in  his  singling  himself  out  as  the  disci- 
ple whom  Jesus  loved,  a  designation  never  given 
to  him  by  either  of  the  other  Evangelists.  The 
reply  to  this  is,  or  at  least  may  be,  that  the 
designation  was  employed  by  John,  not  because 
he  desired  in  any  sense  to  claim  or  imply  a 
supremacy  above  the  other  disciples,  but  because 
the  wonder  of  his  life  was  that  Jesus  should 
love  such  an  one  as  he,  and  by  love  should  trans- 
form him.  All  facts  in  his  life  sink  into  insig- 
nificance in  his  thought  by  the  side  of  this  fact, 
that  he  was  beloved  of  Jesus,  chosen  to  be  the 
witness  of  his  transfiguration,  his  nearest  com- 
panion at  the  Last  Supper,  the  sympathizing 
sharer  in  his  agony  at  Gethsemane,  and  the 
guardian  of  his  mother  after  the  death  of  her 

son   (Matt.  17  :  1  ;    26  :  37  ;  John  13  :  23  ;  19  :  26,  27). — SimOIl 

Peter  therefore  beckoned  to  him  and 
said,  Tell  us  Avho  it  is.  This  is  the  true 
reading,  adopted  by  all  critics,  Alford,  Meyer, 
Lachmann,  Tischendorf,  etc.  The  expression 
has  been  altered  to  that  of  the  Received  Text  in 
order  to  adapt  Peter's  question  to  John's  account 
as  described  in  the  next  verse.  The  Sinaitic 
manuscript  has  the  Received  Text,  "That  he 
should  ask  who  it  should  be,"  as  an  explanatory 
gloss  or  comment  alongside  the  original  expres- 
sion,  "Tell  who  it  is."    Peter  seems  to  have 


assumed  that  John  would  know.  Possibly  in 
the  general  tumult  the  latter  preserved  his  com- 
posure, and  conscious  of  his  own  supreme  love- 
for  his  Lord,  did  not  join  in  the  general  exclama- 
tion, "  Is  it  I  ? " — He  then  throwing  himself 
back  on  Jesus'  breast.  (See  Robinson's- 
Lexicon,  intninTw.)  The  language  of  the  Eng- 
lish version  is  inadequate  and  incorrect,  since  it 
merely  repeats  the  phrase  used  in  verse  23,  as 
though  to  identify  the  person ;  whereas  the 
original  implies  an  action  on  John's  part,  by 
which  he  turned  and  rested  more  closely  than 
before  on  Christ's  bosom.  He  had  before  been 
reclining  next  to  Jesus  in  the  manner  indicated 
in  the  illustration  on  page  283  of  Vol.  I  of  this 
Commentary.  He  now  raises  himself,  and  turn& 
so  as  to  rest  upon  Jesus'  breast  and  whisper  in 
his  ear.  The  graphic  details  of  this  entire  nar- 
rative are  unmistakably  those  of  an  eye-witness. 


DIPPING   THE   SOP. 

26.  He  it  is  to  whom  I  shall  give  a  sop. 

This  reply,  and  Christ's  accompanying  action,  is 
generally  regarded  as  a  designation,  at  least  to 
John,  of  the  traitor.  I  think  this  is  a  mistake. 
It  is  no  uncommon  act  in  an  Eastern  meal  for 
the  host,  as  a  special  act  of  consideration,  to  dip 
a  piece  of  bread  or  meat  in  the  sauce  or  gravy 
and  pass  it  to  a  special  guest,  or  even  put  it  into 
his  mouth.  In  the  Passover  feast,  the  head  of 
the  house  habitually  took  from  the  passover 
cake  a  piece,  dipped  it  in  the  sauce  of  bitter 
herbs  (Exod.  12 :  s),  and  passed  it  in  turn  to  the 


Ch.  XIIL] 


JOHN. 


169 


28  Now  no  man  at  the  table  knew  for  what  intent  he 
spake  this  unto  him. 

29  For  some  0/  tliem  thought,'  because  Judas  had 
the  bag,  that  Jesus  had  said  unto  him,  Buy  those  things 


that  we  have  need  of  against  the  feast :  or,  that  he 
should  give  something  to  the  poor. 

30  He  then,  having  received  the  sop,  went  imme- 
diately out :  and  it  was  night. 


a  chap.  13  :  6. 


persons  at  the  table.  Christ's  answer  to  John, 
therefore,  was  simply  a  more  solemn  reiteration 
of  the  declaration  of  ver.  IS,  "  He  that  cateth 
bread  with  me  hath  lifted  up  the  heel  against 
me."  He  dipped  the  piece  of  bread  in  the 
sauce,  and  passed  it  to  the  disciples  in  turn. 
In  doing  so  he  gave  it  first  to  Judas.  John  may 
have  understood  the  significance  of  the  act ;  but 
it  is  plain  from  ver.  28  that  none  of  the  others 
at  the  table  did  so.  I  should  rather  regard  the 
act  as  a  new  endeavor  on  the  part  of  Christ  by 
love  to  turn  Judas  from  his  evil  purpose.  He 
has  answered  without  designating  him.  He  now 
endeavors  to  draw  him  to  himself  by  singling 
him  out  for  a  manifestation  of  special  love.  In 
the  same  spirit  are  the  last  words  he  addressed 
to  the  apostate — words  not  of  angry  rebuke,  but 
of  pathetic  remonstrance:  "Friend,  wherefore 
art  thou  come  ?    Betrayest  thou  the  Sou  of  man 

with  a  kiss  ?  "    (Matt.  26  :  50  ;  Luke  22  :  48.) 

27-30.  Satan  entered  into  him.    It  is  a 

mistaken  literalism  which  interprets  this  phrase 
as  indicating  that  Judas  was  from  this  time 
demoniacally  possessed.  Nor,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  it  to  be  regarded  as  a  merely  figurative  expres- 
sion, indicating  that  Judas  gave  himself  up 
wholly  and  unreservedly  to  evil.  The  N.  T. 
teaching  assumes  the  existence  of  evil  spirits 
and  their  influence  over  human  beings  (Matt.  13  : 

19,  38  ;  Luke  4  :  6  ;  22  :  31  ;  John  14  :  30  ;  Acta  5:3;  26  :  18  ;  2  Cor. 
2:11;    Ephea.  2:2;    4  :  27  ;    6:11;    2  Tim.  2  :  26 ;    Jaa.  4  :  7 ; 

1  John  3:8;  5  :  18),  and  the  language  here  is  in 
accordance  with  its  spiritual  philosophy.  It 
simply  indicates  that  Judas'  determined  resist- 
ance to  the  warning  words  and  the  winning  love 
of  Christ  gave  to  the  Evil  One  a  new  advantage 
and  influence  over  him.  The  solemn  lesson  for 
us  is  that,  as  every  faithful  performance  of 
known  duty  opens  our  heart  to  the  incoming  of 
God  (ch.  14 :  23),  so  every  determined  resistance  of 
sacred  influences  and  every  persistence  in  sin, 
opens  our  nature  to  the  incoming  of  unknown 
but  tremendous  Satanic  influences.  It  has  before 
been  said  of  Judas  that  Satan  entered  into  him 
(Luke  22 : 3).  There  is  growth  in  the  kingdom  of 
darkness  as  in  that  of  light.  As  God  enters  by 
successive  manifestations  of  himself  into  his 
saints,  so  Satan  into  those  that  give  themselves 
up  to  him. — That  thou  doest,  do  quickly. 
Literallj%  more  quickly  (ru/tov) ;  i.  e.,  hasten  it. 
This  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  merely  permission, 
as  Adam  Clarke :  "  What  thou  art  determined 
to  do,  and  I  to  permit,  do  directly  ;  delay  not ;  I 


am  ready  ; "  nor  yet  as  mandatory,  and  involving 
the  utterance  of  a  divine  decree,  as  Alford : 
"  The  course  of  sinful  action  is  presupposed, 
and  the  command  to  go  on  is  but  the  echo  of 
that  mysterious  appointment  by  which  the  sin- 
ner in  the  exercise  of  his  own  corrupted  will 
becomes  the  instrument  of  the  purposes  of  God  ;" 
but  as  the  expression  of  Christ's  desire  to  be  rid 
of  the  oppressive  proximity  of  the  traitor,  as 
Ambrose  and  Tholuck.  He  sees  that  the  pur- 
pose of  Judas  is  fully  fixed ;  he  will  not  have 
him  remain  there,  contaminating  the  very  atmos- 
phere, and  increasing  his  own  guilt  by  his  dis- 
sembling. We  are  apt  to  judge  men  by  the 
external  act ;  no  wonder  then  that  Christ  has 
been  accused  of  pushing  Judas  over  the  preci- 
pice. But  he  who  judged  by  the  heart,  and 
accounted  him  already  a  murderer  who  has  mur- 
der in  his  heart  (M.itt.  5 :  22),  would  not  have  the 
resolute  apostate  increase  the  guilt  of  betrayal 
by  that  of  hypocrisy.  Moreover,  Christ  wishes 
the  few  minutes  that  remain  for  sacred  converse 
with  his  faithful  friends ;  and  that  he  cannot 
have  in  the  presence  of  the  hypocrite  and  traitor. 
So  he  bids  him  begone.  "Play  the  hypocrite 
here  no  longer,"  he  says  to  him  ;  "but  since  you 
are  determined  on  treason,  go  on  and  consum- 
mate it." — Now  no  one  at  the  table  knew 
why  he  thus  spake  to  him.  Perhaps  the 
writer  himself,  that  is  John,  is  to  be  excepted 
from  this  general  statement.  This  is  the  opinion 
of  most  of  the  commentators.  Yet  it  is  not  at 
all  impossible  that  not  even  John  comprehended 
the  significance  of  Christ's  act  in  handing  the 
sop  to  Judas  first  of  the  disciples. — Because 
Judas  had  the  bag.  Being  treasurer  of  the 
little  band.  See  ch.  13  :  6,  note. — Buy  those 
things  we  have  need  of  against  the  feast. 
From  this  phrase  it  is  argued  by  Alford  and 
Meyer  that  the  supper  at  which  our  Lord  was 
sitting  with  his  disciples  could  not  have  been  the 
Passover  Supper.  "Had  it  been  the  night  of 
the  Passover,  the  next  day  being  hallowed  as  a 
Sabbath,  nothing  could  have  been  bought," — 
(Alford.)  But  Tholuck  has  shown  that  accord- 
ing to  Rabbinical  rules  a  purchase  could  be  made 
on  the  Sabbath  by  leaving  a  pledge  and  after- 
wards settling  the  account.  The  feast  lasted  for 
the  week  ;  therefore  the  disciples  may  weU  have 
supposed  that  a  purchase  for  a  later  period  of 
the  feast  was  contemplated.  And  the  fact  that 
Christ  hastened  Judas  would  have  been  better 
understood  if  the  following  day  was  the  Sabbath, 


170 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XIII. 


31  Therefore  when  he  was  gone  out^  Jesus  said, 
Now'  is  the  Son  of  man  glorified,  and  God"  is  glori- 
fied in  him. 

32  If  God  be  glorified  in  him,  God  shall  also  glorify 
him  in  himself,  and  shall  straightway  glorify  him. 

33  Little  children,  yet  a  little  while  I  am  with  you. 


Ye  shall  seek  me:    and'  as  I  said  unto  the  Jews, 
Whither  I  go,  ye  cannot  come ;  so  now  I  say  to  you. 

34  A  new"  commandment  I  give  unto  you,  That  ye 
love  one  another ;  as  I  have  loved  you,  that  ye  also 
love  one  another. 

35  By  this  shall  all  7ne>i  know  that  ye  are  my  disci- 
ples, it  ye  have  love  one  to  another. 


t  ch.  12  :  23  :  17  :  1-6 


.u  ch.  14  :  13j  1  Pet.  4  :  11. ...v  chaps.  7  :  34 ;  8  :  21... 
Jas.  2  :  8  ;  1  Pet.  1  :  22 ;  1  John  2:7,8; 


IV  ch.  15  :  12,  17  ;  Lev.  19  :  18  ; 
:  11,  23;  4  :  20,  21. 


Ephes.  5  :  2  ;   1  Thess.  4  : 


when  the  shops  would  be  shut. — Or  that  he 
should  give  something  to  the  poor.  Evi- 
dently this  little  band  carried  out  the  precepts 
of  Christian  love  which  their  Master  inculcated. 
Small  as  was  their  stoi-e,  it  is  clear  that  out  of  it 
they  were  accustomed  to  bestow  alms  on  the  more 
needy. — Went  out  immediately.  There  was 
then,  clearly,  no  opportunity  for  the  institution 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  during  his  presence,  unless 
it  was  instituted  either  before  the  feet-washing, 
which  the  order  of  the  narrative  and  its  probable 
connection  with  the  contest  about  places  de- 
scribed in  Luke,  makes  exceedingly  improbable, 
or  between  verses  20  and  21,  which  seems  from 
the  connection  to  be  also  very  improbable.  I 
beUeve  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  occurring  between 
the  departure  of  Judas  and  the  beginning  of 
Christ's  discourse  in  ch.  14.  Matthew  and  Mark 
both  put  it  immediately  after  the  prophecy  of 
the  betrayal ;  Luke  before.  —  And  it  was 
night.  A  graphic  addition  to  the  picture  ;  sig- 
nificant of  the  fact  that  the  narration  is  that  of 
an  eye-witness  in  whose  memory  every  detail 
was  indelibly  impressed ;  and  suggestive  of  the 
darkness  of  the  deed  about  to  be  consummated, 
and  of  the  traitor's  heart.  It  is  always  night 
when  a  deed  of  determined  sin  is  entered  upon. 
"The  night  which  this  miserable  wretch  has  in 
his  heart  is,  without  comparison,  blacker  and 
darker  than  that  which  he  chooses  for  his  work 
of  darkness." — {Quesnel.) 

31,  32.  When  he  Avas  gone  out  Jesus 
said.  The  departure  of  Judas  is  a  relief.  Now 
for  the  first  time  Christ  can  speak  freely,  uuop- 
pressed  by  the  presence  of  a  traitor  and  a  hypo- 
crite.— Now  has  the  Son  of  man  been 
glorified,  and  God  has  been  glorified  in 
him  {(dij^uoihj,  aorist).  If  God  has  been 
glorified  in  him,  God  also  shall  glorify 
him  in  himself,  and  shall  straightway 
glorify  him.  The  significance  of  this  utterance 
has  been,  it  seems  to  me,  misapprehended  by  the 
commentators,  from  a  failure  to  consider  the 
mental  attitude  and  expectation  of  the  disciples. 
The  phrase  Son  of  man  was  a  common  Jewish 
designation  of  the  Messiah,  borrowed  from 
Daniel,  and  would  have  been  so  understood  by 
the  disciples  (Matt,  lo :  23,  note).  They  had  come 
up  to  Jerusalem  anticipating  the  coronation  of 
the  Messiah  as  King  of  the  Jews.  They  had  en- 
tered Jerusalem  in  triumph,  hailing  him  as  such 


(Matt.  21  :  1-11).  Two  of  the  disciples  on  the  way 
had  come  to  him  privately  for  the  best  oflSces 
(Matt.  20: 20, 2i).  The  twclvc  cvcu  had  quarreled 
for  pre-eminence  as  they  were  sitting  down  at 
the  table  (Luke  22 1  24).  The  immediate  object  of 
Christ  in  the  discourse  which  follows  is  to  pre- 
pare them  for  the  terrible  revulsion  of  feeling, 
the  shock  of  disappointment  and  despair  which 
the  morrow  had  in  store  for  them.  He  begins, 
therefore,  with  the  declaration  that  the  glory  of 
the  Messiah  is  an  already  accomplished  fact.  He 
has  been  glorified ;  by  his  incarnation,  his  life 
of  loving  self-sacrifice,  his  patience,  courage, 
fidelity,  love  ;  and  in  his  life  and  character,  God 
has  been  glorified.  The  disciples  have  beheld 
already  the  glory  of  the  only  begotten  of  the 
Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth  (ch.  1  :  14).  Then 
he  adds  a  prophecy  of  further  glory  ;  not  that  of 
the  death ;  not  that  of  the  resurrection  ;  not  that 
of  the  ascension  ;  but  that  of  being  again  one 
with  the  Father.  The  Father  shall  glorify  him, 
in  himself.  He  foresees  and  foretells  the  answer 
to  be  given  to  the  prayer  "Glorify  thou  me,  with 
thine  own  self,  with  the  glory  which  I  had  with 
thee  before  the  world  was  "  (ch.  n  :  5).  And  for 
this  there  is  to  be  no  waiting ;  no  delay  for  an 
earthly  coronation.  There  must  be  a  long  inter- 
val of  redeeming  work  before  he  can  see  of  the 
travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied ;  before  every 
knee  will  bow  and  every  tongue  confess  him 
Lord ;  before  he  can  reign  King  of  kings  and 
Lord  of  lords ;  but  for  this  the  Father  will  not 
wait.  Immediately  that  his  work  of  suffering 
and  self-sacrifice  is  over,  he  will  return  to  the 
bosom  of  the  Father,  to  share  with  him  the  glory 
which  he  had  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 
33-35.  Little  children.  The  only  place 
where  this  phrase  is  used  by  Christ  in  addressing 
his  disciples.     But  we  find  it  more  frequently  in 

the  Epistles  of  Paul  (1  Cor.  4  :  14,  17  ;  2  Cor.  6  :  13 ; 
1  Tim.  1  :  2;    2  Tim.  2  :  l).      It    "  aflectingly  CXprCSSCS 

his,  not  only  brotherly,  but  fatherly  love  (isi. 
9 :  6)  for  his  own,  and  at  the  same  time  their 
immature  and  weak  state,  now  about  to  be  left 
without  him." — (Alford.) — And  as  I  said  to 
the  Jews  (ch.  8 :  21),  Whither  I  go  ye  cannot 
come,  so  now  I  say  to  you.  But  though 
they  could  not  go  to  him,  he  would  come  to 
them,  and  abide  with  them  (ch.  14 :  is,  23).  The 
longing  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ  is  to  be 
gratified  only  by  our  having  Christ  with  us,  until 


Ch.  XIV.] 


JOHN. 


171 


36  Simon  Peter  said  unto  him,  Lord,  whither  goest 
thou  ?  Jesus  answered  him,  Whither  I  go,  tliou  canst 
not  follow  me  now ;  but "  thou  shall  follow  me  after- 
wards. 


37  Peter  said  unto  him,  Lord,  why  cannot  I  follow 
thee  now  ?     I  will  y  lay  down  my  life  for  thy  sake. 

38  Jesus  answered  him.  Wilt  thou  lay  down  thy  life 
for  my  sake  ?  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee.  The  cock 
shall  not  crow,  till  thou  hast  denied  me  thrice. 


z  cb.  21  :  18 ;  2  Pet.  1  :  14 y  Matt.  26  :  SX,  etc. ;  Mark  14  :  29,  etc. ;  Luke  22  :  33,  etc. 


the  time  of  final  departure  comes.  It  is  one 
thing  to  desire  him  here,  willing  to  fill  up  the 
measure  of  his  suffering  in  our  own  life,  if  he  is 
in  us  and  with  us  (2  Cor.  12 :  10) ;  it  is  another  and 
very  different  thing  to  desire  to  depart  and  be 
with  him  that  we  may  escape  the  suffering.  The 
first  is  a  Christian  longing  ;  not  so  the  second. — 
A  new  commandment  I  give  unto  you, 
That  ye  love  one  another;  as  I  have 
loved  you,  that  ye  also  love  one  another. 
The  commandment  to  love  is  not  new  (Lev.  19 :  is). 
But  Christ's  life  gives  to  it  a  new  interpretation 
and  makes  it  new.  Love  has,  ever  since  the  life 
and  death  of  Christ,  taken  on  a  new  signification. 
To  forgive  is  now  to  bless  those  that  curse  us, 
and  do  good  to  those  that  despitefuUy  use  us. 
The  language  here  is  parallel  to  and  interpreted 
by  ch.  17  :  18,  "As  thou  (Father)  hast  sent  me 
into  the  world,  even  so  have  I  also  sent  them 
into  the  world."  It  is  the  interpretation  of  the 
direction,  "Follow  me."  We  are  to  be  followers 
of  his  spirit,  especially  of  his  love.  This  general 
definition  includes  other  special  definitions  that 
have  been  given,  e.  g.,  it  is  new  because  with 
it  there  comes  a  new  motive  power,  the  love 
of  Christ  experienced  in  the  heart,  which  be- 
comes in  turn  the  fountain  of  love  to  all  others 
{Meyer) ;  a  renewed  commandment,  rejuvenated, 
cleansed  of  the  overlay  of  ceremonialism  which 
Pharisaism  had  put  upon  it  {Calvin) ;  new  to  the 
disciples,  unexpected  by  them,  who  were  look- 
ing for  a  new  disclosure  of  divine  glory  in  a  very 
different  direction  {Semler  quoted  in  Meyer) ; 
new  because  love  is  ever  new,  never  can  grow 
old  {Olshausen) ;  new  because  the  law  of  the  new 
covenant,  the  firstf ruits  of  the  Spirit  in  the  new 
dispensation  (oai.  5 :  22).  It  is  notable  how  this 
one  law  of  love  runs  through  and  colors  all  this 
last  sacred  discourse  of  Jesus.  Comp.  ch.  14 : 
15,  24 ;  15  :  9,  10,  17.  The  last  words  of  Jesus 
are  words  full  of  the  comfort  and  inspiration 
and  exaltation  of  love. — By  this  shall  all  men 
know  that  ye  are  my  disciples.  Not  by 
professions,  or  creeds,  or  ceremonials,  or  reli- 
gious services,  but  by  love  one  towards  another. 
Love  is  the  Christian  water-mark,  the  Christian 
uniform.     The  banner  over  Christ's  church  is 

love  (Sol.  Song  2  :  4). 

36-38.    Prophecy    of    Peter's     denial. 

This  is  probably  identical  with  the  prophecy  of 
Luke  23  :  31-38,  see  notes  there  ;  but  distinct 
from  that  of  Matt.  26  :  31-35 ;  Mark  14  :  27-31. 
Thou  canst  not  follow  me  now.    Because 


it  was  not  the  divine  will  that  the  apostles 
should  share  in  their  Master's  death. — But 
thou  shall  follow  me  afterwards.  Peter, 
accorduig  to  tradition,  was  crucified ;  thus  he 
followed  Christ  in  death,  and  through  death 
into  glory.  Comp.  John  21  :  18. — The  cock 
shall  not  crow.  The  second  crowing  at  dawn 
is  intended.     See  Matt.  26  :  34,  note. 


Ch.  14  :  1-31.     THE  HEART  OF  CHRISTIANITY— THE 
DIVINE  IMMANENCE.— The   promise    of   the    Com- 

POBTEB  :   INVISrBLE,  rNDWELLING,  ABIDING. — TuE  CON- 
DITION OP  THE  PROMISE  :   THE  OBEDIENCE  OF  LOVE. — 

The  result  :  a  fruitful,  spmiTUAL  life,  comfort, 

INSTRUCTION,  PEACE,  JOT,  LOVE. 

Preliminary  Note. — The  14th,  15th,  16th  and 
17th  chapters  of  John  are  the  Holy  of  Holies  of 
the  Bible.  Christ  is  about  to  depart  from  his 
disciples ;  the  cloud  of  the  coming  trouble  casts 
its  shadow  on  their  hearts  ;  he  sees  clearly,  they 
feel  vaguely  the  impending  tragedy.  They  are 
to  behold  their  Master  spit  upon,  abused,  exe- 
crated ;  they  are  to  see  him  suffering  the  tortures 
of  a  lingering  death  upon  the  cross  ;  they  are  to 
be  utterly  unable  to  interfere  for  his  succor  or 
even  for  his  relief ;  they  are  to  see  all  the  hopes 
which  they  had  built  on  him  extinguished  in  his 
death.  It  is  that  he  may  prepare  them  for  this 
experience,  that  he  may  prepare  his  disciples 
throughout  all  time  (ch.  n  :  20)  for  similar  expe- 
riences of  world-sorrow  (ch.  16 :  33;,  and  that  he 
may  point  out  to  them  and  to  the  church  uni- 
versal the  source  of  their  hope,  their  peace,  their 
joy,  and  their  life — moral  and  spiritual — that 
he  speaks  to  the  twelve,  and  through  them  to 
his  discipleship  in  all  ages,  in  these  chapters, 
and  finally  offers  for  them  and  for  us  that  prayer 
which  we  may  well  accept  as  the  disclosure  of 
his  eternal  intercession  for  his  followers.  The 
discourse  is  sympathetic,  not  philosophical  or 
critical ;  it  is  addressed  to  sympathetic  friends, 
not  to  a  cold  or  critical  audience  ;  and  it  is  to  be 
interpreted  rather  by  the  sympathies  and  the  spir- 
itual experience  than  by  a  philosophical  analysis. 
It  sets  forth  the  source  of  all  comfort,  strength, 
guidance  and  spiritual  well-being  in  the  truth  of 
the  direct  personal  presence  of  a  seemingly  ab- 
sent but  really  present,  a  seemingly  slain  but 
really  living,  a  seemingly  defeated  but  really  vic- 
torious Lord  and  Master.  This  truth  appears 
and  reappears  in  various  forms  in  these  chapters, 
like  the  theme  in  a  sublime  symphony.  Now  it 
is  plainly  stated,  "I  ■wiU  come  to  you "  (ch.  14 :  is) ; 


172 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XIV. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

LET^  not  your  heart  be  troubled:    ye  believe  in 
God,  believe  ^  also  in  me. 
2  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions :  if  it  were 


not  so,  I  would  have  told  you.    I  go">  to  prepare  a 
place  for  you. 

3  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will « 
come  again,  and  receive  you  unto  myself:  that"  where 
I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also. 


'•1  •  Isft  43  :  1,  2  ;  i  Thesa.  2  :  2. . .  .a  Isa.  12  :  2,  3  ;  Ephes.  1  :  12,  13  ;   1  Pet.  1  :  21 
c  Heb.  9  :  28. . .  ch.  12  :  26  ;  17  :  24  ;  1  Theaa.  4  : 


.b  Heb.  6  :  20  ;  9  :  8,  24 ;   Rev.  21  :  2. . . . 


now  it  is  interpreted  by  a  metaphor,  "  Ye  are  the 
vine,  I  am  the  branches"  (ch.  15  :  5) ;  now  it  is  a 
promise  of  the  Spirit's  presence,  now  of  Christ's, 
now  of  the  Father's  (ch.  14 :  le,  18, 21,23) ;  now  the 
disciples  are  bid  to  turn  their  thoughts  toward 
this  spiritual  presence,  this  Divine  Immanence, 
for  their  own  sake  (ch.  16 :  7),  now  they  are  ap- 
pealed to  by  the  love  they  bear  the  Master 
(ch.  14  :  28).  The  Conditions  of  this  personal  expe- 
rience of  the  unseen  spiritual  presence  of  their 
God  and  Saviour  is  declared  to  be  obedience  in 
the  daily  life  to  the  law  of  love  (ch.  14 :  21, 23;  is :  10); 
the  result  is  declared  to  be  a  constant  growth  in 
the  knowledge  of  divine  truth  (ch.  u :  26 ;  16 :  12, 13); 
a  sacred  peace  and  joy  (ch.  u :  27 ;  15 :  u) ;  a  super- 
natural strength  in  sorrow  (16  :  20-22).  These 
truths  are  not  logically  arranged ;  the  structure 
of  the  discourse  is  not  that  of  a  sermon,  but  that 
of  a  confidential  conversation,  in  which  in  dif- 
ferent forms  the  same  essential  truth  is  repeated 
and  re-repeated,  because  the  heart  is  so  full  that 
a  single  utterance  does  not  suffice,  and  the  truth 
is  so  transcendent  that  no  logical  statement  is 
adequate.  After  the  conversation  is  closed  and 
the  disciples  rise  to  depart,  Christ  recurs  to  the 
theme  in  a  new  form,  and  continues  the  dis- 
course,  while  the  disciples  wait  standing  for  a 

new    signal    to    go    out    (ch.  14  :  31  ;    ch.  15,  Prel.  Note)  ; 

and,  finally,  when  for  a  second  time  he  draws  his 
discourse  to  a  close,  he  re-embodies  the  same 
consolatory  and  inspiring  truth  in  a  prayer, 
breathing  the  aspiration  that  the  reward  and 
secret  and  source  of  his  own  power  may  be  given 
to  his  disciples,  sent  into  the  world  to  complete 
the  mission  which  he  has  but  inaugurated  (ch.  n  : 
18).  Thus  these  chapters  of  John  contain  a  dis- 
closure of  the  very  heart  of  Christianity,  the  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  a  living  God  by  direct  com- 
munion with  him,  as  a  teacher,  a  comforter,  an 
luspirer,  the  one  and  only  true  source  of  faith, 
hope,  love.  The  commentator  must  point  out 
the  connection  of  the  verses  and  the  meaning  of 
the  words  ;  his  work  must  be  in  a  measure  criti- 
cal and  cold ;  but  only  the  devout  heart,  wluch 
knows  by  experience  that  love  of  Christ  which 
passes  the  knowledge  of  the  intellect,  can  inter- 
pret the  spiritual  meaning  of  the  truth,  since 
the  condition  of  understanding  it  is  not  a  critical 
knowledge  of  words  or  an  intellectual  apprehen- 
sion of  theology,  but  a  love  for  Christ  that  keeps 
Christ's  words,  that  recognizes  Christ's  mission 
to  be  also  the  mission  of  the  Christian,  and  that 


abides  in  Christ  in  the  spirit  that  it  may  follow 
Christ  in  the  life.  Without  this  spirit  the  stu- 
dent in  vain  addresses  himself  to  the  study  of 
this  "wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery,"  hidden 
except  to  the  soul  to  whom  God  hath  revealed 
it  by  his  Spirit  (1  Cor.  2 : 7-10). 

1-3.  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled. 
In  this  hour  of  unparalleled  sorrow,  with  Geth- 
semane,  the  betrayal,  the  denial,  the  mock  trials 
and  the  cnicifixion  full  in  view,  Christ  thinks  not 
of  himself,  l)ut  of  his  disciples.  He  does  not 
seek  comfort,  but  imparts  it.  We  may  well 
imagine  a  momentary  silence  after  the  prophecy 
of  the  preceding  verses.  The  disappointment  of 
the  Judaic  expectation  of  temporal  and  political 
deliverance,  the  prophecy  of  treason,  the  sud- 
den and  unexpected  departure  of  Judas,  the 
prophecy  of  Peter's  denial,  and  of  the  abandon- 
ment of  their  Lord  by  the  other  disciples,  have 
all  tended  to  sober  and  sadden  them. — Ye  have 
faith  in  God,  have  faith  also  in  me.  The 
forms  of  the  indicative  and  the  imperative  are  the 
same  {niazhvhti).  Some  critics  read  both  verbs 
indicative.  Ye  have  faith  in  God,  ye  have  faith  also 
in  me ;  some  both  imperative ;  treating  both  as 
an  exhortation,  Have  faith  in  God  ;  have  faith 
also  in  me ;  and  some,  as  our  English  version, 
which  makes  the  statement  of  the  first  clause 
the  ground  of  the  exhortation  of  the  second 
clause,  Ye  have  faith  in  God,  have  faith  also  in  me. 
Either  rendering  is  grammatically  legitimate ; 
the  latter  seems  to  me  preferable.  As  Jews  they 
had  faith  in  the  one  only  true  and  living  God  ; 
a  faith  which,  in  the  experience  of  patriarchs 
and  prophets,  trial  and  trouble  had  not  been  able 
to  shake  (Hab.  3 :  17,  18).  Christ  urges  them  to  a 
like  faith  in  him,  a  faith  strong  enough  to  sur- 
vive the  brief  though  terrible  separation  of  death. 
Theism  is  the  foundation  of  Christianity ;  faith 
in  one  only  living  and  true  God  precedes  and  pre- 
pares the  way  for  faith  in  Christ  his  Son,  the 
living  and  true  way  to  the  Father.  To  believe 
in  him  is  not  to  believe  anything  about  him,  nor 
merely  to  trust  in  him,  but  to  have  such  a  spirit- 
ual apprehension  of  his  character,  that  when  he 
is  crucified  the  disciples  shall  not  lose  their  con- 
fidence in  him  as  the  Messiah.  He  warns  them 
against  that  doubt  M'hich  augmented  and  inten- 
sified their  distress  when  they  saw  him  whom 
they  had  trusted  should  have  redeemed  Israel 
put  to  an  open  shame  and  a  cruel  death  (Luke  24 : 
21).     They  were  trusting  in  themselves.     Peter's 


Ch.  xiv.j 


JOHN. 


173 


xieclaration,  "I  will  lay  down  my  life  for  thy 
sake,"  expressed  the  common  confidence  of  all 
(Mark  14  :  3i).  Christ  first  demolished  this  false 
■confidence,  then  seeks  to  build  up  a  new  and 
better  confidence  in  himself. — In  my  Father's 
house  are  many  dwelling-places.  The 
phrase  "my  Father's  house"  is  generally  re- 
garded as  a  circumlocution  for  heaven ;  Christ's 
declaration  as  tantamount  to  the  general  state- 
ment that  in  heaven  there  is  room  enough  for 
them  all  {Alford,  Meyer,  etc. ) ;  and  in  support  of 
this  view  such  O.  T.  passages  as  Ps.  2'3  :  13,  14 ; 
Isaiah  63  :  15,  are  quoted,  which  refer  to  the 
heavens  as  God's  habitation.  I  would  rather 
regard  the  universe  as  God's  house  according  to 
the  spirit  of  Isaiah  G6  : 1,  "  Heaven  is  my  throne, 
and  earth  is  my  footstool,"  and  the  declaration 
that  in  it  are  many  dwelling-places,  as  a  new 
light  thrown  upon  the  abode  of  the  dead  who 
die  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  ancients  regarded 
Hades,  or  the  abode  of  the  dead,  a  deep  and 
dark  abode  in  the  under-world,  fastened  with 
gates  and  bars,  a  ghostly  abode,  a  prison-house 
of  the  disembodied   (job  lo :  21, 22;  11  :  8  ;  Ps.  88  :  6  ; 

89  :  48  ;   Eccles.  9:4;    Isa.  5  :  14 ;    14  ;  9-20 ,   38  :  10  ;   Ezek.  31  : 

17 ;  32 :  2i).  The  O.  T.  thought  of  death  and  the 
abode  of  the  dead  was  hardly  more  hopeful  than 
that  of  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans.  Homer 
makes  the  dead  Achilles  declare  : 

"  I  woiUd  be 
A  laborer  on  earth  and  serve  for  hire 
Some  man  of  mean  estate,  who  makes  scant  cheer, 
Rather  than  reign  over  all  who  have  gone  down 
To  death." 

Parallel  to  this,  in  some  respects  more  gloomy, 
were  the  ancient  Hebrews'  thoughts  of  Hades. 
Dying  was  bidding  farewell  to  God.  "  Wilt  thou 
show  wonders  to  the  dead  ?  Shall  the  dead  arise 
and  praise  thee  ?  *  *  *  Shall  thy  righteousness  be 
known  in  the  land  of  forgetfulness  ?  "  (Ps.  ss :  10-12). 
*'In  death  there  is  no  remembrance  of  thee  "  (ps. 
6 : 5).  Comp.  Isaiah,  ch.  38,  and  Job,  ch.  14.  The 
hope  of  better  things  is  but  an  occasional  gleam 
in  a  night  of  great  darkness  and  almost  despair. 
See  Job  10  :  31,  23 ;  Ps.  89  :  45-49  ;  Eccles.  9:4; 
Isaiah  5  :  14, 15  ;  14  :  9-30 ;  Ezek,  31 :  16, 17 ;  and 
especially  Isaiah,  ch.  38,  and  Job,  ch.  14.  In 
contrast  with  this  gloomy  view  of  death  is  that 
of  the  N.  T.,  the  germ  of  which  is  afforded  by 
Christ's  declaration  here,  which  may  be  para- 
phrased thus  :  "The  earth  is  not  the  only  abode 
of  God's  children;  in  my  Father's  house  (the 
universe)  are  many  dwelling-places  for  them ; 
and  I,  in  leaving  you,  am  not  going  to  the  dark 
abode  of  the  voiceless  dead,  but  to  prepare  for 
you  a  place,  and  to  return  again  to  take  you  to 
myself,  that  you  may  witness  and  share  the  glory 
which  I  have  with  the  Father."  Out  of  this 
declaration  grows,  as  a  fruitful  tree  out  of  a 


seed,  the  whole  of  the  discourse  contained  in  this 
and  the  two  following  chapters.  Out  of  it  grows, 
too,  the  Christian's  conception  of  and  experience 
in  death.  See  for  example  3  Cor.  5  :  1^.  It 
should  be  added  that  the  word  house  {oixLu)  is 
never  used  in  the  N.  T.  as  a  designation  of 
heaven,  but  with  the  analogous  word  {olxos)  house- 
hold, is  used  of  the  world  (join  8 :  35),  the  temple 
(John  2 :  16),  and  the  whole  kingdom  of  God  (Heb. 
3:2-6);  so  that  N.  T.  usage  confirms  the  interpre- 
tation here  given.  The  word  rendered  mansions 
{uoii'i)  occurs  nowhere  else  in  the  N.  T.,  but  is 
derived  from  a  verb  (^tticu)  signifying  to  abide, 
and  here  unquestionably  indicates  not  a  mansion, 
but  simply  a  permanent  dwelling-place.  This 
was  indeed  the  original  meaning  of  the  English 
word  mansion  (Fr.  maison). — If  not,  would  I 
have  told  you  that  I  go  to  prepare  a  place 
for  you  ?  The  reference  is  to  some  previous 
statement  not  preserved  in  our  Gospels.  Th» 
argument  is  this :  I  could  not  have  assured  you, 
as  I  have  done,  that  I  am  going  to  prepare  a 
place  for  you,  if  the  place  of  the  dead  were  the 
dark  abode  which  you  have  imagined  it  to  be. 
This,  which  is  the  interpretation  of  the  French 
translation,  seems  to  me,  notwithstanding  the 
objection  of  the  modern  writers  {Meyer,  Godet, 
Tholuck,  etc.),  better  than  the  construction  of 
our  English  version,  though  either  is  grammati- 
cally admissible.  If  we  take  the  other  construc- 
tion, the  connection  is  as  Godet  gives  it:  "If 
our  separation  was  to  be  an  eternal  one,  I  would 
have  forewarned  you ;  I  would  not  have  waited 
for  this  last  moment  to  declare  it  unto  you." — 
And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you. 
The  implication  of  this  entire  passage  is  not 
merely  "heaven  large  enough  for  all,"  but  a 
heaven  with  various  provisions  for  various  na- 
tures. In  the  Father's  house  is  not  merely  a 
large  mansion,  but  many  mansions  ;  and  there  is 
prepared  a  place  not  merely  for  all  but  for  you, 
a  personal  preparation  in  glory  for  each  child  as 
by  grace  m*  each  child  ;  a  room,  a  house  for  each 
nature  adapted  to  its  needs.  But  how  does 
Christ  prepare  a  j^lace  for  us  ?  To  that  question 
revelation  makes  no  answer.  We  can  only  say 
that  redemption  did  not  end  with  Christ's  death, 
that  he  is  still  carrying  on  his  work  of  redeeming 
love  for  us  as  well  as  in  us.  In  every  death  of  a 
friend  he  lays  up  treasure  in  heaven  for  us ;  those 
that  have  gone  before  and  entered  into  their  rest, 
and  await  our  coming,  are  a  part  of  this  divine 
preparation.  The  sorrow  here  is  a  part  of  the 
preparation  of  unmeasured  joy  hereafter. — I 
will  come  again  and  receive  you  unto 
myself.  In  order  to  understand  this,  we  must 
bear  in  mind  what  Stier  well  calls  the  perspective 
of  prophecy.  "The  coming  again  of  the  Lord 
is  not  one  single  act — as  his  resurrection,  or  the 
descent  of  the  Spirit,   or  his  second  personal 


174 


JOHK. 


[Ch.  XIV. 


4  And  whither  I  go  ye  know,  and  the  way  ye  know. 

5  Thomas  saith  unto  him,  Lord,  we  know  not  whither 
thou  goest ;  and  how  can  we  know  the  way  ? 


6  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  I  am  the  ^  way,  and  the  truth,' 
and  the  life  :  e  no  i"  man  cometh  unto  the  Father,  but 
by  me. 


e  ch.  10  :  9  ;  Isa.  35  :  8,  9  ;  Heb.  10  :  19,  20  . . . .  f  ch.  1:11;  15  :  1  . . .  .  g  ch.  1  :  4 ;  11  :  26  ....  h  Acts  4:12. 


advent,  or  the  final  coining  in  judgment — but 
the  combination  of  all  these,  the  result  of  which 
shall  be  his  taking  his  people  to  himself  to  be 
where  he  is.  This  coming  is  begun  (ver.  is)  in  his 
resurrection ;  carried  on  (ver.  23)  in  the  spiritual 
life  (sec  also  ch.  16 :  22,  etc.),  the  making  them  ready 
for  the  place  prepared ;  further  advanced  when 
each  by  death  is  fetched  away  to  be  with  him 
(phii.  1  :  23) ;  fuUy  completed  at  His  coming  in 
glory  when  they  shall  be  forever  with  Him 
(i  Thess.  4 : 1?)  iu  the  perfected  resurrection  state." 
— {Alford. — That.  In  order  that  (i'»«).  The 
going,  the  preparing,  the  returning  are  all  for 
the  sake  of  them,  his  disciples. — Where  I  am 
there  ye  may  be  also.  Death  is  no  longer 
"farewell  to  God  ;  "  it  is  going  home  to  be  for- 
ever with  the  Lord  (ch.  n-.U;  Phil.  l  ;  23  ;  1  Thess.  4  :  I?). 

4,  5.  And  whither  I  go  (ye  know  and)  the 
way  ye  know.  There  is  some  doubt  as  to  the 
reading;  most  critics  {Meyer,  Alford,  Tischen- 
dorf,  Lachmann)  either  omit  or  doubt  the  words 
I  put  in  brackets.  But  their  omission  obscures 
without  changing  the  sense  ;  the  meaning  is  un- 
doubtedly that  conveyed  by  our  Received  Ver- 
sion. While  in  form  a  statement,  it  is  in  fact  an 
inquiry  ;  its  object  is  to  provoke  questioning,  as  it 
does  from  Thomas.  Whither  he  goes  is  to  the 
Father  (ch.  20 :  n) ;  the  way  he  goes  is  the  way  of 
death  and  resurrection,  already  foretold  them 

(Matt.  16  :  21  ;    17  :  22,  23;   20  :  17-19). — ThomaS    Saith 

unto  him,  We  know  not,  etc.  On  the  char- 
acter of  Thomas,  see  ch.  20  :  26.  The  few  indi- 
cations of  his  character  afforded  by  the  Gospels 
(John  11  :  16 ;  20 :  24-29)  show  him  to  have  posscsscd 
an  affectionate  but  unimaginative  nature,  desir- 
ing much,  hoping  little,  and  easily  given  to  de- 
spair. Such  a  nature  takes  nothing  for  granted  ; 
it  wants  every  statement  explained,  nothing  left 
to  the  imagination,  nothing  to  the  interpretation 
of  the  future.  "The  heavenly  whither,  however 
distinctly  Jesus  had  already  designated  it, 
Thomas  did  not  yet  know  clearly  how  to  com- 
bine with  his  circle  of  Messianic  ideas ;  but  he 
desired  to  arrive  at  clearness." — {Meyer.') 

6,  7.  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  I  am  the 
way,  the  truth,  and  the  life.  This  is  not 
directly  responsive  to  the  implied  question  of 
Thomas.  That  is  theoretical ;  this  is  practical. 
The  disciples  desire  to  understand  the  way  by 
which  Christ  is  to  depart,  and  the  place  to  which 
he  is  going ;  Christ's  answer  points  out  the  way  in 
and  by  which  the  disciple  can  follow  his  Lord  and 
be  with  him  where  he  is.  There  is  here,  there- 
fore, not  merely  a  play  upon  the  word  "way," 


though  Christ  uses  it  in  one  sense  in  ver.  4  and 
in  a  different  sense  in  ver.  6  ;  but  the  same  word 
is  used  to  turn  the  thoughts  of  the  inquirer  from 
a  purely  theoretical  question  about  Christ  to  a 
practical  truth  concerning  himself.  It  was  al- 
ways the  habit  of  Christ  to  answer  questions  in 
theoretical  theology  by  directions  helpful  to  the 

spiritual   life  (see  ver.  22-24 ;    ch.  3  :  4-6 ;  4  :  19-24).      The 

phrase,  /  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life,  may 
be  interpreted,  according  to  Lightfoot,  as  a  He- 
braism equivalent  to  the  true  and  living  way ; 
but  it  is  better  to  take  the  two  latter  phrases  a& 
explanations  of  the  former.  Christ  is  the  way 
unto  the  Father,  not  because  he  points  out  the 
way,  but  because  he  is  the  truth  concerning  the 
Father,  and  possesses  in  himself  the  divine  life, 
and  has  power  to  impart  it  to  us.  He  does  not 
merely  reveal  the  truth  ;  he  is  the  truth ;  the 
truth  incarnated  in  a  living  form ;  the  truth 
of  God,  whom  he  manifests  to  the  world  (Matt. 

11  :  27  ;   John  1  :  1,  2,  14  ;    10  :  30  ;    Phil.  2:6;    Col.  2:9;    Heb. 

1  :  13),  and  the  truth  of  life,  which  he  illustrates 
more  forcibly  by  his  example  than  by  his  words, 
so  that  all  his  precepts  are  summed  up  in  the 
one  command,  "Follow  me."  He  is  the  life, 
having  life  in  himself  (ch.  5 :  26),  imparting  it  to 
others  (ch.  10 :  10),  and  so  giving  them  power  to 
become  sons  of  God  (ch.  1  :  12)  by  the  possession 
of  that  divine  life  without  which  no  man  can 
ever  see  God  (ch.  3:3;  Heb.  12 :  14).  To  come  to  the 
Father  by  Christ  as  the  way  is  not,  then,  merely 
to  accept  him  as  an  inspired  teacher  respecting 
the  Father,  nor  merely  as  an  atoning  sacrifice, 
whose  blood  cleanses  away  the  sins  which  inter- 
vene between  the  soul  and  the  Father  (Heb.  lo :  20) ; 
it  is  to  be  conformed  to  him  as  to  the  truth,  and 
to  be  made  partaker  of  his  life  (phu.  3 :  s-u). — No 
one  cometh  to  the  Father  but  by  me.  He 
now  says  "to  the  Father,"  not  to  the  Father's 
house,  because,  as  Godet  well  says,  "It  is  not  in 
heaven  that  we  are  to  find  God,  but  in  God  that 
we  are  to  find  heaven."  By  me  is  equivalent  to, 
by  me  as  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life.  This 
does  not  necessarily  require  a  knowledge  of, 
still  less  a  correct  theological  opinion  concerning 
Christ.  The  conception  of  God's  character  may 
be  really  derived  from  Christ's  teaching,  the  life 
may  be  conformed  to  Christ's  example,  and  the 
soul  may  be  partaker  of  his  spirit,  and  yet  the 
individual  may  be  unconscious  of  the  source 
from  which  he  has  derived  his  knowledge  of 
God,  bis  ideal  of  life,  and  his  inspiration.  This 
declaration  is  inclusive  rather  than  exclusive  ;  it 
is  equivalent  to  that  of  ch.  1  :  9  (sec  note  there). 


Ch.  XIV.] 


JOHN. 


175 


7  If  ye  had  known  me,  ye  should  have  known  my 
Father  also :  and  from  henceforth  ye  know  him,  and 
have  seen  him. 

8  Philip  saith  unto  him,  Lord,  shew  us  the  Father 
and  it  sumceth  us. 


3  Jesus  saith  unto  him.  Have  I  been  so  long  time 
with  you,  and  yet  hast  thou  not  known  me,  Philip  ? 
he '  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father  ;  and  how 
sayest  thou  then^  Shew  us  the  Father  ? 

lo  Believest  thou  not  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and 


"  That  was  the  true  Light  which  lighteth  every 
man  that  eometh  into  the  world."  All  spiritual 
life  comes  through  Christ,  but  not  necessarily 
through  a  clear  and  correct  knowledge  about 
Christ. — If  ye  had  known  me  ye  should 
have  known  my  Father  also.  Comp.  ch. 
8  :  19.  The  practical  lesson  for  us  clearly  is  that 
the  way  to  come  to  a  true  spiritual  knowledge  of 
the  Father  is  by  a  study  of  the  life  and  character 
of  Christ,  and  above  all  by  a  symjjathetic  and 
personal  spiritual  acquaintance  with  him.  His 
disciples  had  not  known  Christ.  They  had  up  to 
this  time  believed  in  him  as  a  temporal  Mes- 
siah. Of  a  Messiah  crucified,  the  power  of  God 
and  the  wisdom  of  God  unto  salvation  to  Gentile 
as  well  as  Jew  (i  cor.  i  :  24),  they  had  known 
nothing,  and  hence  of  God  as  their  Father  and 
their  Friend  they  knew  nothing. — From  hence- 
forth ye  have  known  him  and  have  seen 
him.  From  this  time.  He  refers  to  what  he 
has  already  disclosed  of  the  divine  nature,  in  the 
washing  of  the  disciples'  feet,  in  the  prophecy 
of  his  own  betrayal  and  death,  and  in  what  he  is 
about  to  tell  them  of  the  spiritual  presence  of 
himself  and  the  Father,  through  the  Holy  Spirit, 
in  their  hearts.  From  the  time  of  this  disclosure 
it  will  indeed  be  their  own  fault  if  they  fail  to 
comprehend,  at  least  in  some  measure,  "  the 
breadth  and  length  and  depth  and  height,  and 
to  know  the  love  of  Christ  (and  so  the  love  of  the 
Father  revealed  in  and  through  Christ),  which 
passeth  knowledge  "  (Ephes  3  :  is,  19). 

8,  9.  Philip  saith  unto  him,  Shew  us  the 
Father  and  it  sufficeth  us.  On  Philip's  life 
and  character,  see  Vol.  I,  p.  149.  Compare  the 
request  of  Moses  (exocj.  33 :  is).  Philip  has  in  mind 
the  O.  T.  appearances  of  God ;  he  wants  such  a 
manifestation  of  the  Deity,  a  seeing  of  God. 
"One  such  sight  of  God  would  set  at  rest  all 
these  fears,  and  give  him  perfect  confidence." — 
{Alford?!  He  wants  to  walk  by  sight,  and  not 
by  faith.  He  expresses  the  universal  longing  of 
humanity  for  a  vision  of  the  imknown.  This 
request  furnishes  the  text  on  which  the  follow- 
ing discourse  is  founded.  Christ  replies  that  the 
unknown  Father  is  manifested  to  the  world  in 
his  Sou  (ver.  9-ii),  and  in  the  spiritual  life,  the  in- 
ward experience,  of  those  that  love  him  and  keep 
his  commandments  (ver.  15-21) ;  he  points  out  the 
way  to  secure  this  inward  experience,  namely, 
by  loving  the  Son  and  keeping  his  command- 
ments (ver.  22-26) ;  he  declares  that  this  indwelling 
of  the  Father  in  the  soul  of  the  believer  brings 


abundant  peace  (ver.  27-31) ;  it  is  more  than  a  vis- 
ion, it  is  an  abiding,  by  which  the  life  of  God 
flows  into  the  soul  of  man,  making  it  partaker  of 
the  divine  nature  and  fruitful  in  works  of  divine 
love  (ch.  15 :  1-8) ;  this  love,  patterned  after  and 
imbibed  from  Christ,  extends  to  the  world  that 
hates  both  the  Lord  and  his  disciples  (ch.  15 : 9-27) ; 
this  love,  born  and  kept  alive  by  the  indwelling 
of  the  unseen  Father,  is  the  illuminator,  the  in- 
structor, and  the  inspirer  of  him  who  possesses 
it,  and  gives  him  assurance  of  the  divine  love 
and  intimacy  of  spiritual  communion  with  the 
divine  Being  (ch.  le).  See,  further,  Prel.  Note. 
There  is  a  real  connection  in  this  discourse,  though 
not  that  of  an  oration  ;  the  unity  is  spiritual  rather 
than  intellectual ;  but  it  all  circles  about  a  single 
central  truth,  the  provision  which  divine  love 
has  made  for  satisfying  the  soul-hunger  for  a 
vision  of  the  unseen  and  invisible  God.  In  a 
sense  Philip  is  right,  though  the  mjht^  if  the  sight 
of  a  spirit  was  possible,  would  not  satisfy  ;  but 
we  see  God  only  as  we  become  like  him,  and  we 
shall  be  satisfied  when  we  awake  in  his  likeness 
and  so  see  him  as  he  is  (Ps.  17  :  15;  1  John  1  :  2). — 
Have  I  been  so  much  time  with  you,  and 
yet  hast  thou  not  known  me,  Philip? 
Not  merely  the  length  of  time  is  indicated  ;  it 
had  been  but  about  three  years,  probably  a  little 
less  ;  but  during  that  three  years  he  had  been  con- 
stantly with  his  disciples ;  they  had  eaten,  slept, 
journeyed,  lived  together;  the  companionship 
was  most  intimate,  the  opportunity  for  familiar 
acquaintance  perfect. — He  that  hath  seen  me 
hath  seen  the  Father;  and  how  sayest 
thou  then,  Show  us  the  Father  ?  There  is 
a  physical  and  there  is  a  spiritual  sight.  The 
disciples  had  known  Jesus  after  the  flesh ;  but 
Christ  according  to  the  spirit  they  did  not  know 
till  after  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  at  Pente- 
cost. To  admire  the  Son  of  man  is  one  thing ; 
to  receive  the  Spirit  of  God  manifested  in  and 
through  him  is  quite  different.  He  that  has  a 
spiritual  discernment  of  Christ  will  recognize 
the  spiritual  character  of  the  unknown  Father, 
the  truth,  mercy,  love  of  God,  shining  in  and 
through  the  Son.  There  is  and  can  be  no  physi- 
cal vision  of  God ;  he  is  a  spirit,  and  is  to  be 
spiritually  known,  to  be  worshipped  in  spirit  as 
well  as  in  truth  (ch.  4  :  24).  The  language  of 
Christ  here,  and  indeed  throughout  this  whole 
discourse,  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  con- 
ception of  him  as  a  mere  human  or  superhuman 
ambassador  of  God.    He  represents  not  merely 


176 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XIV. 


the  Father  in  me  ?  the  words  that  I  speak  unto  you  I 
speak  not  of  myself:  but  the  Father  that  dwelleth  in 
me,  he  doeth  the  works. 

II  Believe  me  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the 


Father  in  me  :  or  else  believe  me  for  the  very  ^vorks' 
sake. 
12  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  He  J  that  believeth 


j  Matt.  21  :  i\. 


the  divine  government,  but  the  divine  Being. 
The  Father  is  so  in  him  that  whoever  looks 
"within  the  tabernacle  beholds  the  glory  as  of  the 
only  begotten  of  the  Father  (ch.  i  :  u).  He  is  the 
manifestation  in  the  flesh,  not  of  the  divine  gov- 
ernment, but  of  God  (i  Tim.  3 :  16).  It  is  impossi- 
ble to  refer  this  answer  to  the  mere  union  in 
sympathy  and  purpose  of  Jesus  with  God.  "  No 
Ohristian,  even  if  perfected,  could  say,  '  He  that 
has  seen  me  has  seen  Christ.'  How  much  less, 
then,  could  a  Jew,  though  perfect,  have  said, 
*He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father.'  " — 
{Oodet.) 

10,  11.  Believest  thou  not  that  I  am  in 
the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  me?  God 
is  in  everything  which  he  has  made  ;  the  AH  and 
in  All  (jer.  23 :  24 ;  1  Cor.  15 :  28).  We  also  are  intended 
to  be  temples  in  which  he  is  to  dwell  (ps.  91  :  i ; 

Rom.  8  :  n  ;    1  Cor.  3  :  16;   2  Tim.  1  :  w).      But  sin,  which 

Tias  been  admitted  to  dwell  in  us  (Rom.  7  :  17),  has 
driven  out  the  Spirit  of  God,  so  that  the  temple 
is  destroyed  by  defilement  (1  cor.  3 :  \i,  marg.) ;  it 
ceases  to  be  the  temple  of  God.  He  dwells  no 
longer  in  it.  In  Christ  Jesus  there  was  no  sin  ; 
in  Christ  Jesus,  therefore,  dwells  all  the  fullness 
of  the  Godhead  bodily  (coi.  2:9);  and  it  is  by 
union  with  him,  and  a  new  life  received  in  and 
by  and  from  him,  that  the  fullness  of  the  divine 
indwelling  is  to  be  at  length  restored  to  all  that 
are  his  (ch.  17:21-23;  Ephes.  3:17). — The  words 
that  I  speak  to  you  I  speak  not  of  myself. 
From  myself  {dn'  iuavtov).  From  signifies  the 
fountain  or  source ;  the  source  of  Christ's  au- 
thority is  not  in  himself,  but  in  the  Father,  who 
dwells  in  and  speaks  through  him.  See  ch.  5  : 
19,  note. — But  the  Father,  he  Avho  abides 
in  me,  he  doeth  the  works.  Some  read, 
doeth  his  own  works.  So  Tischendorf  and  Meyer. 
The  Received  reading  is  preferable,  but  the 
meaning  is  much  the  same.  Whether  we  read, 
He  that  dwelleth  in  me  doeth  his  own  works 
{ttoui  ra  tQya  uuroi"),  or.  He  that  dwelleth  in  me, 
he  it  is  who  doeth  the  works  (aj;rd?  noiu  ru  tQya), 
the  emphasis  is  equally  put  upon  the  Father  as 
the  One  who,  abiding  in  the  Son,  does  all  things 
through  him.  The  works  are  here,  not  merely 
the  miracles,  but  the  whole  range  of  beneficent 
action  of  the  Son,  including  certainly  the  mira- 
cles, but  those  only  as  a  part  of  the  whole  ser- 
vice of  love.  This  word  work  (t'oyoi)  is  rarely,  I 
think  nevei",  used  in  the  N.  T.  as  equivalent  to 
miracle  (aijiurov). — Have  faith  in  me,  that  I 
am  in  the  Father.    Beware  of  understanding 


this  as  equivalent  to.  Believe  me,  on  my  mere 
personal  assurance  ;  this  is  apparently  the  inter- 
pretation of  our  English  version,  and  is  sustained 
by  even  so  eminent  an  authority  as  Meyer.  It  is 
grammatically  possible ;  but  it  neither  accords 
with  Jesus'  use  of  the  word  believe  {ntazivw), 
which  he  habitually  uses  to  signify  a  spiritual  ap- 
prehension, not  merely  an  intellectual  opinion ; 
nor  with  the  spirit  of  this  discourse,  which,  begin- 
ning with  ver,  1,  is  throughout  addressed,  not  to 
the  formation  of  correct  opinions,  but  to  the 
building  up  of  a  right  spiritual  apprehension  of 
Christ,  and  through  him  of  the  eternal  Father. 
The  meaning  is.  Have  faith  in  me  that  I  am  in  the 
Father,  and  the  Father  in  me ;  i.  e. ,  Look  beneath 
the  surface,  the  flesh ;  behold  in  the  inward 
grace,  manifesting  itself  in  the  outward  speech 
and  action,  the  lineaments  of  the  divine  charac- 
ter ;  so  have  faith  in  me  as  one  in  whom  the 
Father  dwells,  and  through  whom  the  Father  is 
made  manifest.  But  if  this  spiritual  sense  is 
lacking,  then — Through  (by  reason  of  dlu)  the 
Avorks  themselves  believe.  Mm  is  omitted 
by  Godet,  Meyer,  Lachmann,  and  Tischendorf, 
on  the  authority  of  the  Sinaitic,  Cambridge,  and 
Vatican  manuscripts.  Christ  places  his  own 
character  in  the  front  rank,  as  the  principal  evi- 
dence of  the  divine  origin  and  authority  of 
Christianity.  He  is  his  own  best  witness.  But, 
for  those  who  cannot  discern  the  divinity  of  his 
life  and  character,  he  appeals  to  the  works 
wrought  by  him  and  by  the  religion  of  which  he 
is  the  founder,  and  which  was  more  powerful  after 
his  death  than  during  his  life.  The  evidence 
from  the  miracles,  and  from  the  whole  miracu- 
lous history  of  Christianity,  is  secondary  to  the 
evidence  from  the  character  and  person  of 
Christ  himself. 

12.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  *  *  * 
greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do ; 
because  I  go  to  my  Father.  If  by  wor'ks 
was  meant  merely  miracles,  this  declaration 
would  be  difficult  of  interpretation  ;  for  none  of 
Christ's  disciples  have  ever  wrought  greater 
miracles  than  the  Master,  nor  is  it  easy  to  con- 
ceive of  a  greater  miracle  than  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead.  But  if  by  loorks  was  meant  Christ's 
whole  life  of  beneficent  activity,  then  this  prom- 
ise has  been  abundantly  fulfilled.  For  Christ 
worked  in  a  very  narrow  sphere,  both  of  time 
and  place ;  for  three  years,  in  a  province  no 
larger  than  the  State  of  Vermont.  More  souls 
were  converted  at  Peter's  preaching  on  the  day 


Ch.  XIV.] 


JOHN. 


177 


on  me,  the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do  also ;  and  greater 
■works  than  these  shall  he  do ;  because  I  go  unto  my 
Father. 


13  And''  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name,  that 
wUI  I  do,  that  the  Father  may  be  glorified  in  the  Son. 

14  If  ye  shall  ask  anything  in  my  name,  I  will  do  it. 


k  1  John  5  :  14. 


of  Pentecost  than  during  the  whole  of  Christ's 
personal  ministry.  At  Christ's  death  the  whole 
number  of  Christian  converts  does  not  seem  to 
have  exceeded  five  hundred,  and  Christianity 
was  utterly  unknown  outside  of  Palestine.  At 
John  Wesley's  death  Methodism  had  spread 
■over  Great  Britain,  the  Continent  of  Europe,  the 
United  States,  and  the  West  Indies,  and  its  com- 
munion embraced  over  eighty  thousand  members. 
Whitefield,  Wesley,  Spurgeon,  Moody  preached 
during  their  lives  to  immensely  greater  numbers 
than  Christ  ever  personally  taught ;  and  proba- 
bly many  Christian  physicians  have  healed  more 
sick  than  Christ  ever  healed.  Thus  in  extent  the 
disciples  have  already  done  greater  works  than 
their  Master.  And  this  for  the  reason  here  as- 
signed, namely,  because  he  has  gone  to  the  Fa- 
ther ;  and  because  of  that  going  the  Comforter 
has  come  to  bless  the  labors  of  the  disciples  with 
a  wider  and  more  powerful  divine  influence  than 
could,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  proceed  from 
God  incarnate  in  a  single  human  life  (ch.  le :  t). 
But  we  have  no  right  to  say  that  this  promise 
does  not  await  even  further  fulfillment.  When 
the  fullness  of  time  shall  have  come,"  and  God 
dwells  in  all  his  children  in  the  fullness  foreseen 
in  ch.  17  :  31,  there  may  be  in  them  a  power  over 
nature  of  which  modern  science  gives  possibly  a 
foreshadowing,  and  which  will  be,  in  its  effects, 
much  greater  than  that  which  Christ  exercised 
over  it,  because  they  that  exercise  it  will  have 
the  whole  earth  as  their  inheritance.  Only  thus 
can  I  understand  such  promises  as  that  here  and 
m  Mark  11  :  23,  etc. 

13,  14.  And  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in 
my  name,  that  will  I  do.  For  analogous 
promises  of  answers  to  prayer,  see  Exod.  22  :  27 ; 
Deut.  4  :  29 ;  Ps.  34  :  15  ;  37  :  4,  5  ;  Jer.  29  :  12, 
13 ;  Joel  3  :  32 ;  Matt.  7  :  7,  8 ;  Mark  11  :  24 ; 
John  15  :  16  ;  16  :  23 ;  James  1  :  5  ;  1  John  3  :  22  ; 
5  :  14, 15.  A  comparison  of  these  passages  shows 
clearly  that  God  does  not  give  an  unconditional 
promise  of  affirmative  answer  to  every  prayer. 
This  would  be  to  place  omnipotence  at  the  com- 
mand of  ignorance  and  selfishness  ;  it  would  be 
a  curse,  not  a  blessing.  The  condition  here  is 
embodied  in  the  words,  In  my  name;  the  prom- 
ise is  only  to  those  petitions  asked  in  the  name 
of  Jestts  Christ.  To  ask  in  the  name  of  Christ  is 
not  to  introduce  his  name  into  the  petition,  as  in 
the  famUiar  phrase.  For  Christ's  sake  ;  nor  is  it 
merely  to  approach  the  Father  through  the  me- 
diatorship  of  Jesus ;  this,  but  much  more  than 
this,  is  included.     "In  the  name  "  of  any  one,  as 


used  in  the  N.  T.,  generally,  if  not  always,  signi- 
fies representing  him,  standing  in  his  stead,  ful- 
filling his  purposes,  manifesting  his  will,  and 
imbued  with  and  showing  forth  his  life  and 
glory.  With  John  it  always  has  this  significa- 
tion. Thus,  "  The  works  that  I  do  in  my  Fa- 
ther's name "  (ch.  lo  :  25)  is  equivalent  to.  The 
works  that  I  do  in  my  Father's  stead,  for  him 
and  by  his  power  and  authority  ;  "Blessed  is  the 
King  of  Israel  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord"  (ch.  12  :  13)  is  equivalent  to.  That  cometh 
as  the  representative  and  manifestation  of  the 
Lord;  "The  Holy  Ghost  whom  the  Father  will 
send  in  my  name"  (ch.  14.  26)  is  equivalent  to, 
The  Holy  Ghost  who  comes  to  represent  me, 
and  teach  the  truths  concerning  me,  and  implant 
and  keep  alive  my  life  in  the  souls  of  my  disci- 
ples ;  "I  kept  them  in  thy  name"  is  equivalent 
to,  I,  as  one  with  thee  (ch.  10 :  29, 30),  have  kept 
them  within  the  circle  of  thine  influence,  because 
within  mine  own,  which  is  thine.  Comp.  Acts 
3:6;  4:7;  Phil.  2  :  10 ;  Col.  3  :  17,  and  notes. 
Here,  then,  the  declaration  is  that  whatsoever 
we  ask,  speaking  for  Christ,  seeking  his  will, 
representing  him  and  his  interests,  and  his  king- 
dom, not  merely  our  own  special  and  personal 
interests  (pwi.  2 :  21),  will  be  granted.  So  in  Matt. 
6  :  9  (see  Dote  there)  the  Lord  makcs  the  petition, 
"Hallowed  be  thy  name,"  the  portico  to  every 
prayer — so  teaching  us  that  in  every  prayer  the 
desire  for  the  glory  of  God  should  be  supreme. 
So  again  in  Rom.  8  :  26  the  apostle  represents  us 
taught  both  how  and  for  what  to  pray  by  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  within  us.  But  every  prayer 
thus  offered  in  the  name  of  Christ  and  with  a 
supreme  allegiance  to  him,  representing  his  king- 
dom and  imbued  by  his  spirit,  will  be  in  character, 
like  his  prayer  atGethsemane.  It  wiU  carry  with 
it  the  petition,  "  Not  my  will  but  thine  be  done," 
and  thus,  as  Meyer  says,  "The  denial  of  the 
petition  is  the  fulfillment  of  the  prayer,  only  in 
another  way."  See  2  Cor.  12  :  8,  9.— That  the 
Father  may  be  glorified  in  the  Son.  When 
the  church  is  a  true  representative  of  Christ, 
filled  with  his  spirit,  manifesting  his  character 
and  life,  so  that  it  prays  in  his  name,  in  his  name 
casts  out  devils  (Luke  10 :  n\  and  in  his  name  suf- 
fers, filling  up  what  is  behind  of  the  Lord's  afflic- 
tion (Col.  1  :  24),  and  doing  all  in  his  stead,  as  his 
representative,  and  because  imbued  with  his 
spirit,  then  the  Father  is  glorified  in  the  Son, 
because  he  is  glorified  in  humanity,  whom  he 
hath  redeemed  ;  for  then  the  glorified  and  re- 
deemed church  is  the  body  of  Christ  (Ephes.  1 :  23), 


178 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XIV. 


15  If  ye  love  me,  keep  my  commandments. 

16  And  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give  you 
another  Comforter,"  that  he  may  abide  with  you  for 
ever; 


17  .fiz-fw  the  Spirit  of  truth:  whom"  the  world  can- 
not receive,  because  it  seeth  him  not,  neither  knoweth 
him  :  but  ye  know  him ;  for  he  dwelleth  with  you,  and  " 
shall  be  in  you. 


1  ver.  SI,  23 ;  ch.  15  :  10,  14 ;  1  John  5:3 m  ch.  15  :  26 n  1  Cor.  2  :  14 0  Rom.  8  :  9  ;  1  John  2  :  21. 


the  visible  manifestation  of  his  invisible  presence, 
his  perpetual  incarnation. — If  ye  shall  ask 
anything  in  my  name,  I  will  do  it.    The 

promise  is  specific  ;  a  promise  not  merely  to  pro- 
vide generally  for  the  wants  of  the  disciples,  but 
to  hear  and  answer  their  specific  requests. 
Comp.  Matt.  7  :  9,  10.  Observe,  too,  the  lan- 
guage, I  imll  do  it,  and  compare  the  phraseology 
here  with  that  of  the  analogous  promise  in  ch. 
16  :  23,  "  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  the  Father  in 
my  name,  he  will  give  it  you."  What  inspired 
prophet  or  angelic  messenger  could  make  such  a 
promise  ?  "  This  /  already  indicates  the  glory  " 
(JBengel),  the  glory  of  him  who  is  07ie  with  the 
Father. 

15-17.  If  ye  love  me  keep  my  com- 
mandments. The  object  of  the  Gospel  is  the 
inspiration  of  love,  not  mere  obedience ;  but 
obedience  is  the  test  because  the  manifestation 
of  love.  The  N.  T.  recognizes  no  other  test  of 
love  to  Christ  than  compliance  in  the  daily  life 
with  his  will.  See  for  striking  illustration  of  this, 
ch.  31  :  15-17.— And  I  will  pray  the  Father. 
The  poverty  of  the  English  language  has  pre- 
vented our  translators  from  producing  in  the 
English  Bible  the  distinction  between  three  Greek 
verbs,  which  bear  different  significations,  but  are 
aU  indiscriminately  translated  by  the  word  pray. 
These  are  to  reqtiest  (nQoacv/ouai),  to  ask  (totu- 
raw),  and  to  entreat  (alrtw).  Christ  is  said  in 
the  N.  T.  to  request  the  Father  (Matt,  u :  23 ;  26 :  36 ; 

Mark  1  :  35,  etc.),    and   tO  ask  of  the   Father  (ch.  le  :  26  ; 

n  :  9 ;  16 :  2o),  but  uevcr  to  entreat  the  Father. 
Here  the  second  of  these  words  is  used.  "  Our 
Lord  never  uses  entreat  {aitein,  aitesthai,  alniv 
or  aitiZa^ai)  of  Himself  in  respect  of  that 
which  he  seeks  on  behalf  of  his  disciples  from 
God ;  for  his  is  not  the  petition  of  the  creature  to 
the  Creator,  but  the  request  of  the  Son  to  the 
Father.  The  consciousness  of  his  equal  dignity, 
of  his  potent  and  prevailing  intercession,  speaks 
out  in  this,  that  as  often  as  he  asks  or  declares 
that  he  will  ask,  anything  of  the  Father,  it  is 
always  requesting  or  inquiriiig  (erotas,  erotaso, 
iQwrucu,  iQMTi'iovj),  that  is,  as  upon  equal  terms, 
never  entreating  (aiteo,  aiteso,  ulri«i  or  «(Ti;fl(u)." 
—{Trench.)  See  further  ch.  16  :  23,  34,  note.— 
And  he  shall  give  you  another  Paraclete. 
The  original  word,  inadequately  rendered  in  our 
English  version  by  the  word  Comforter,  is  simply 
untranslateable.  It  is  composed  of  two  Greek 
words  (Tfapa  y.aXt(x)),  to  call  to  one's  side,  and  signi- 
fies one  who  is  called  to  aid  another.     And  this 


etymological  signification  of  the  word  indicates 
the  ofl&ce  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his  relations  to 
us  ;  he  is  our  present  help  in  every  time  of  need, 
the  one  with  whom  we  walk,  our  Consoler,  our 
Strength,  our  Guide,  our  Peace-giver,  our  ever 
present  God.  The  word  Comforter  must  then  be 
taken  in  its  etymological  and  old  English  sense, 
as  one  who  gives  not  mere  consolation,  but 
strength  (confortis).  He  is  here  called  another 
Comforter ;  yet  a  little  below,  Christ  seemingly 
identifies  him  both  with  the  Father  and  with 
himself,  in  the  declaration  "I  will  manifest  my- 
self to  him  (ver.  21 ),  and  we  "  (i.  e.,  the  Father 
and  I,)  "  will  make  our  abode  with  him  "  (ver.  23). 
In  the  Comforter  Christ  himself  is  ever  present 
with  his  church  (Matt.  28 :  20),  for  the  Comforter 
is  one  with  Christ  as  both  are  one  with  the 
Father,  so  that  the  presence  of  one  is  the  presence 

of    all    (Rom.  8  :  9,  10  ;  Gal.  2  :  20  ;  4  :  6).       We    kUOW    tOO 

little  of  the  interior  nature  of  the  Deity  to  be 
able  to  draw  any  clear  distinction  between  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  We  only 
know  that  as  God  in  the  Father  is  manifested  to 
us  as  providing  for  us,  and  in  the  Son  as  making 
atonement  for  us,  so  in  the  Spirit  he  is  mani- 
fested by  being  spiritually  ever  present  with  us. 
The  mystery  of  their  diversity  in  unity  defies 
philosophical  analysis.  But  Christ  is  speaking  to 
the  experience,  not  to  the  intellect ;  and  to  the 
spiritual  experience  the  father,  the  Son  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  Provider,  the  Atoning  Saviour 
and  the  Indwelling  Spirit,  God  in  nature,  in  the 
flesh,  and  in  our  own  souls,  are  one. — That  he 
may  abide  with  you  forever.  In  contrast 
with  the  Son,  who  came  but  for  a  time,  and 
because  he  was  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  could 
abide  only  with  a  few  and  only  for  a  limited 
period.  To  long  for  the  laws  of  the  O.  T.,  or 
even  for  the  visible  presence  of  the  limited  and 
earthly  manifestation  of  God  afforded  by  the 
N.  T.,  is  to  desire  to  go  back  from  the  broader, 
deeper,  fuller  manifestation,  to  one  narrower 
and  more  limited.  To  be  governed  by  prece- 
dents or  rules  of  the  past  is  to  ignore  the  per- 
petually abiding  presence  of  the  Comforter,  the 
promised  guide  into  all  truth.  Of  his  office 
Christ  speaks  more  fully  in  ver.  36  and  ch.  16  : 
7-15.— The  Spirit  of  Truth.  So  called,  (1) 
because  it  is  by  giving  a  spiritual  knowledge  of 
the  truth  that  he  ministers  to  those  that  receive 
him.  The  Comforter  strengthens,  guides,  liber- 
ates, sanctifies  by  the  truth  (ch.  8 :  32 :  le :  13 ;  it  : 
n,  19 ;  1  Cor.  2 : 4 ;  1  Thess.  1 : 5).    (2)  Becausc  his  minis- 


€h.  XIV.] 


JOHN. 


179 


i8  I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless :  I  p  will  come 
to  you. 
19  Yet  a  little  while,  and  the  world  seeth  me  no 


more :  but  ye  see  me :  because  1  I  live,  ye  shall  live 
also. 

20  At  that  day  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  in  my  Father, 
and  ye  in  me,  and  I  in  you. 


p  ver.  3  :  28 q  Heb.  7  :  25. 


try  is  perfectly  true  without  any  admixture  of 
error.  All  teaching  that  is  ministered  through 
human  language,  even  that  of  Christ  and  the 
apostles,  is  subject  to  the  errors  and  the  mis- 
apprehensions of  the  human  medium  through 
which  it  passes.  The  instruction  of  the  Spirit, 
ministered  directly  to  our  spirits,  though  still 
liable  to  be  misapprehended  and  perverted  by  us, 
is  not  subject  to  error  in  the  interpretation.  It 
is  perfect  truth  ;  all  other  teaching  is  truth  with 
alloy,  from  which  we  must  separate  it,  as  best 
we  may. — Whom  the  world  cauiiot  receive. 
To  be  literally  understood.  Cannot  is  not  here 
equivalent  to  will  not.  He  that  is  of  the  world, 
living  unto  it,  making  it  his  end,  cannot  receive 
spiritual  truth  or  spiritual  influences.  His  mind  is 
blinded  by  the  god  of  this  world  (isa.  6 : 9,  lo;  2Cor. 
4 : 4).  The  declaration  here  is  analogous  to  that 
of  Christ  in  John  3:3,  "  Except  a  man  be  bom 
again  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God,"  and  to 
that  of  Paul  in  1  Cor.  3  :  14,  "The  natural  man 
receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  for 
they  are  foolishness  unto  him ;  neither  can  he 
know  them ;  because  they  are  spiritually  dis- 
cerned."—  Because  it  seeth  him  not, 
neither  knoweth  him.  There  is  no  visible 
manifestation  of  the  Comforter ;  he  is  not  and 
cannot  be  discerned  by  the  senses  as  Christ 
could  be  and  during  his  life  was,  by  the  manifes- 
tation of  his  miraculous  power ;  and  the  unspir- 
itual  has  no  inward  consciousness  of  his  presence, 
no  spiritual  experience  of  his  comfort,  strength, 
or  guidance.  Hence,  since  the  Comforter  is  not 
discernible  by  the  outward  sense,  and  the  un- 
spiritual  have  never  had  developed  within  them 
the  inward  sense  of  faith,  they  cannot  receive 
him.  In  contrast  with  the  world  in  this  respect 
is  the  disciple  of  Christ,  in  whom  the  spiritual 
life  has  been  awakened  in  the  new  birth. — But 
ye  know  him  because  he  abides  with 
you,  and  shall  be  in  you.  There  is  no  hint 
here  that  the  disciples  can  see  the  Comforter  any 
more  than  the  world.  This  should  have  pre- 
vented Godet's  misapprehension  of  this  passage, 
that  "before  receiving  they  must  have  seen  and 
known  the  Spirit."  To  see  {^iwoita)  is  to  recog- 
nize with  the  senses,  or  to  recognize  intellectually 
by  deductions  from  what  is  perceived  by  the 
senses.  Neither  by  sight,  nor  by  deduction  from 
sight  can  the  Comforter  be  known.  He  is  known 
only  by  those  with  and  in  whom,  as  a  conscious 
Presence,  he  abides.  Some  texts  read  is  in  you 
instead  of  shall  be  in  you.    The  future  is  the 


preferable  reading,  and  the  antithesis  between 
the  first  and  last  clauses  of  the  verse  indicates 
a  progressive  development  in  the  spiritual  life. 
The  Comforter  was  even  then  with  the  disciples, 
though  they  were  not  yet  ready  to  receive  him ; 
he  was  in  them,  inspiring  and  moulding  their 
life  and  character,  after  the  day  of  Pentecost. 
So  he  is  ever  with  the  church  and  the  individual 
Christian ;  but  he  is  in  the  church  and  in  the 
Christian  only  when  they  wait  and  watch  for  his 
appearing,  as  the  apostles  waited  and  watched 
before  the  day  of  Pentecost. 

18-30.  I  will  not  leave  you  orphans. 
This,  which  is  the  marginal  reading,  exactly  ren- 
ders the  original.  Our  English  version,  /  will  not 
leave  you  comfortless,  though  made  sacred  by 
many  an  association,  deprives  the  promise  of  the 
singular  significance  involved  in  the  original. 
An  orphan  is  not  a  person  without  parents,  but 
one  who  is  separated  from  his  parents  by  death ; 
memory  looks  back  to  them,  hope  looks  forward 
to  them,  but  they  are  not  personally  present. 
Christ  declares  that  he  will  not  thus  leave  his 
disciples.  Their  Saviour  shall  be  more  than  a 
memory,  more  than  a  hope ;  he  will  be  their  per- 
sonal present  God. — I  will  come  to  you.  He 
refers  here  not  to  his  reappearance  in  the  resur- 
rection, for  that  was  followed  by  his  disappear- 
ance in  the  ascension,  so  that  if  on  this  the  disci- 
ples alone  depended  they  were  left  more  than 
ever  before  in  orphanage.  Nor  did  he  then  make 
his  abode  with  the  disciples ;  he  vouchsafed 
them  only  brief  and  transient  appearances  of 
himself.  He  does  not  refer  to  his  second  com- 
ing ;  for  the  world,  as  well  as  his  own  disciples, 
wiU  then  see  him  (Rev.  1 : 7  j  e :  15-17).  He  refers  to 
that  spiritual  manifestation  which  he  makes  of 
himself,  and  of  the  Father  through  him,  by  the 
gift  and  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  whom  the 
Father  sends  in  his  name.  This  is  clear  from 
vers.  19,  20,  23,  26,  etc.— Yet  a  little  while 
and  the  world  seeth  me  no  more;  but  ye 
see  me,  because  I  am  living  and  ye  shall 
live  also.  According  to  the  punctuation  of 
our  English  version  there  is  here  a  double  prom- 
ise, first  that  the  disciples  shall  again  see  their 
Lord,  secondly  that  they  shall  share  his  life. 
According  to  the  punctuation  which  I  have 
adopted,  the  second  promise  is  implied  rather 
than  asserted,  and  is  made  the  basis  of  the  first. 
Either  is  grammatically  possible ;  the  second 
rendering  is  preferable,  because  the  whole  of 
Christ's  teaching  here  refers  not  to  the  life  of 


180 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  xiy. 


21  He'  that  hath  my  commandments,  and  keepeth 
them,  he  it  is  that  loveth  me :  and  he  that  loveth  me 
shall  be  loved  of  my  Father,  and  I  will  love  him,  and 
will  manifest  myself  to  him. 


22  Judas'  saith  unto  him,  not  Iscariot,  Lord,  how  is- 
it  that  thou  wilt  manifest  thyself  unto  us,  and  not  unto 
the  world  ? 

23  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  If  a  man  love 


r  ver.  15,  23 s  Luke  6  :  16. 


the  disciple,  but  to  the  manifestation  to  him  of 
his  Lord,  and  because  thus  the  two  clauses  of 
the  sentence  are  brought  into  close  connection. 
The  soul's  perception  of  the  personal  presence 
of  Christ  is  then  dependent  upon  sharing  his 
spiritual  hfe  ;  and  this  is  abundantly  taught,  both 
here  and  elsewhere.  We  are  changed  into  the 
image  of  Christ  by  beholding  him  (2  cor.  3 :  is),  and 
we  behold  him  by  conforming  to  his  image  (2  Pet. 
1 : 5-9).  The  promise  is  one  of  spiritual  sight,  de- 
pendent upon  spiritual  life.  Since  the  world 
does  not  and  cannot  see  him  (ver.  n),  arguments 
based  on  visible  phenomena  to  prove  the  reality 
of  that  which  is  a  spiritual  experience  are  always 
in  vain.  Hence  the  futility  of  the  ordinary 
methods  of  arguing  with  skeptics.  They  are 
endeavors  to  prove  to  the  blind ;  whereas  the 
blind  must  first  see,  then  learn. — At  that  day 
ye  shall  know  that  I  am  in  the  Father, 
and  ye  in  me  and  I  in  you.  Tfiat  day  was 
in  the  history  of  the  church  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost, when  the  Spirit  was  first  revealed  with 
power  to  the  entire  body  of  believers.  But  each 
believing  soul  has  also  its  Pentecost,  when  it 
first  learns  the  meaning  of  Christ's  promises  in 
this  chapter.  This  is  to  it  that  day,  the  one  great 
day  of  its  existence.  It  is  not  said  that  the  dis- 
ciple will  understand  how  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  disciples  are  in  one  another,  but  he  Avill 
know  it  as  a  fact ;  the  xinity  of  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  and  the  indwelling  of  both  in  the  be- 
liever, will  become  a  part  of  his  experience.  This 
experience,  promised  here,  is  expressed  as  a 
realized  fact  by  Paul  in  Gal.  2  :  20:  "I  am  cru- 
cified with  Christ :  nevertheless  I  live ;  yet  not 
I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me  :  and  the  liffe  which  I 
now  live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the 
Son  of  God,  who  loved  me  and  gave  himself  for 
me." 

21.  Having  given  expression  to  the  mystical 
truth  of  the  spiritual  manifestation  of  their  Lord 
to  the  believers,  Christ  next  states  the  condi- 
tions under  which  it  is  realized.  These  are 
not  external ;  this  spiritual  revelation  is  not  made 
dependenft  upon  retiring  from  the  world  and 
living  a  life  of  asceticism  and  artificial  self-de- 
nial. They  are  not  intellectual;  this  revelation 
and  indwelling  of  Christ  is  not  made  dependent 
upon  the  creed  of  the  disciple.  They  are  moral ; 
practical  obedience  to  the  words  of  Christ  as- 
sures spiritual  enjoyment  of  his  presence  and 
companionship.  —  He  that  hath  my  com- 
mandments   and    keepeth    them.      These 


clauses  are  not  to  be  read  as  repetitions  of  the 
same  idea,  made  for  the  sake  of  emphasis.  To 
have  is  not  the  same  as  to  keep.  He  hath  Christ's 
commandments  not  who  has  a  knowledge  of 
them,  so  that  the  promise  is  conditional  upon  a 
certain  degree  of  Christian  education,  but  who 
has  a  spiritual  apprehension  of  them,  who  appre- 
ciates their  spirit.  Since  all  of  Christ's  com- 
mands are  comprised  in  the  one  direction  "Fol- 
low me,"  the  first  condition  of  receiving  this- 
spiritual  manifestation  of  Christ  as  a  real  and 
living  Presence  in  the  daily  life,  is  a  spiritual 
appreciation  of  his  life  and  character  as  they  are 
disclosed  in  the  N.  T.,  and  therewith  a  Uke  ap- 
preciation of  the  precepts,  principles,  and  spirit 
of  the  life  which  he  has  inculcated.  He  keeps 
Christ's  commandments  who  carefully  guards 
them  in  his  daUy  life,  regarding  them  as  a  pos- 
session which  he  is  in  danger  of  losing.  See 
Matt.  19  :  17,  note.— That  one  is  he  that  lov- 
eth me.  The  evidence  of  love  which  Christ 
recognizes  is  not  profession,  or  ceremonial,  or 
emotional  experience,  or  intellectual  opinion,  but 
spiritual  appreciation  of  his  precepts  and  practi- 
cal obedience  to  them.  The  good  Samaritan  is 
a  more  acceptable  lover  than  the  priest  or  the 
Levite. — He  that  loveth  me  shall  be  loved 
of  my  Father,  and  I  will  love  him.  Every 
disciple  may  thus  become  a  "beloved  disciple." 
For  the  love  here  spoken  of  is  not  that  love  of 
compassion  which  the  Father  and  the  Son  have 
for  the  whole  world  (ch.  3 :  le),  even  while  it  was 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  (Ephes.  2 : 4,  s),  but  the 
love  of  spiritual  fellowship  and  personal  friend- 
ship (ch.  15 :  14, 15;  Gal.  4  :  ?).  "There  is  between 
these  two  feelings  the  same  difference  as  between 
a  man's  compassion  for  his  guilty  and  unhappy 
neighbors  and  the  affection  of  a  father  for  his 
child  or  of  a  husband  for  his  wife." — {Godet.) 
Christ  is  here  speaking  not  of  the  condition  on 
which  men  may  become  his  disciples ;  he  is  in- 
structing his  disciples,  is  pointing  out  the  condi- 
tion on  which  each  one  of  them  may  come  into  a 
higher  spiritual  experience  of  their  Master's  love 
and  spiritual  presence.  This  is  indicated  not 
only  by  the  context  and  general  character  of  the 
discourse,  but  also  by  the  peculiar  language 
here,  TTiaf  one  it  is  who  loveth  me.  That  one 
{i-Ai'ivoc)  indicates  an  exceptional  individual,  one 
among  many,  who,  by  his  course,  becomes  the 
special  friend  of  Jesus. 

22,  23.  Judas  saith  unto  him,  not  Isca- 
riot.   The  same  person  called  Lebbeus  in  Matt. 


Ch.  XIV.] 


JOHN. 


181 


me,  he  will  keep  my  words  :  and  my  Father  will  love 
him,  and'  we  will  come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode 
with  him. 
24  He  that  loveth  me  not  keepeth  not  my  sayings : 


and  the  word  which  ye  hear  is  not  mine,  but  the  Fa- 
ther's which  sent  me. 

25  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you,  being  yet 
present  with  you. 


t  1  John  2  :  24  ;  Rev.  3  :  20. 


10  :  3  and  Thaddeus  in  Mark  3  :  18.  In  Luke 
6  :  16,  etc.,  and  Acts  1  :  13,  he  is  called  "Judas 
(the  brother)  of  James."  See  Note  on  Twelve 
Apostles,  Vol.  I,  p.  149. — Lord,  and  what 
has  happened  that  thou  wilt  manifest 
thyself  to  us,  but  not  at  ail  {ov/})  to  the 
Avorld  ?  His  question  is  not,  as  represented  by 
our  English  version,  the  expression  of  a  mere 
curiosity.  In  what  way  wilt  thou  make  this  man- 
ifestation of  thyself?  it  is  the  expression  of 
amazement  and  perplexity.  All  the  disciples 
were  anticipating  that  Christ  would  manifest  his 
Messiahship  in  some  unexpected  manner,  strik- 
ing terror  into  the  hearts  of  all  his  opponents, 
and  becoming,  by  some  miraculous  forth-putting 
of  power,  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords.  Ju- 
das, hastily  concluding  that  there  is  to  be  no 
other  manifestation  than  that  of  which  Christ  is 
now  speaking,  expresses  his  amazement  and  per- 
plexity. What  has  happened  to  lead  to  the 
abandonment  of  a  world  manifestation  of  the 
Messiah?  is  the  meaning  of  his  question.  But 
Christ  has  not  said  that  he  will  not  at  all  be 
manifested  to  the  world ;  only  that  the  world 
cannot  see  that  manifestation  of  him  of  which 
he  is  now  speaking. — Jesus  answered  and 
said  unto  him.  He  does  not  reply  to  the 
question  of  Judas  ;  enters  into  no  explanation ; 
simply  reiterates  that  the  condition  of  receiving 
the  spiritual  manifestation  of  Christ  as  a  per- 
sonal Presence  is  obedience  to  his  directions. 
Christ  never  sufEers  himself  to  be  turned  aside 
from  practical  instruction  by  inquiries  in  theo- 
retical theology. — If  any  one  loves  me,  he 
will  keep  my  word.  TFoccZ,  not  words;  sin- 
gular, not  plural.  His  command  is  but  one 
word  :  love. — My  Father  will  love  him,  and 
we  ^vill  come  unto  him  and  make  our 
abode  with  him.  This  promise  is  more  than 
the  preceding  one  (ver.  21).  There  Christ  prom- 
ises simply  that  the  obedient  disciple  shall  see 
his  Lord  ;  here  that  he  shall  become  a  temple  in 
which  his  Lord  will  constantly  dwell ;  there 
that  Christ  shall  manifest  himself  to  the  soul ; 
here  that  the  Father  and  the  Son  shall  dwell  in 
the  soul.  "They  shall  come  like  wanderers 
from  their  home  and  lodge  with  him ;  will  be 
daily  his  guests,  yea,  house  and  table  compan- 
ions."— (Meyer.)  Thus  Christ  by  his  command- 
ments knocks  at  the  door  of  the  heart ;  he  that 
hath  those  commandments  hears  the  voice ;  he 
that  keeps  them  opens  the  door  (Rev.  3 :  20).  Thus, 
too,  the  Christian's  experience  on  earth  is  a 


foretaste  of  his  experience  in  heaven.  "Here 
below  it  is  God  who  dwells  with  the  believer; 
above,  it  will  be  the  believer  who  will  dwell  with 
God." — {Godet.)  By  his  language  here,  We  will 
come  u?i(o  him,  Christ  identifies  himself  as  the 
companion  of  the  Father  in  the  spiritual  expe- 
rience of  the  disciple.     See  ver.  15-17,  note. 

24.  In  contrast  with  the  disciple  who  has  and 
kee2)s  the  word  of  Christ,  our  Lord  portrays  the 
opposite  character.  He  loves  not  Christ ;  he 
makes  no  attempt  to  treasure  and  guard  his  in- 
struction ;  and  in  rejecting  the  word  and  its 
Bearer  he  rejects  the  Father  whom  the  Bearer 
represents  and  by  whom  the  word  is  given. 
Beware  of  reading  the  negative,  "  The  word  is 
not  mine,"  as  equivalent  to  The  word  is  not 
merely  mine.  Christ  here,  as  in  many  other 
passages,  disavows  the  paternity  of  his  o^\ti  in- 
structions. They  are  not  his ;  they  are  the  Fa- 
ther's who  dwells  in  him,  and  inspires  the  words 
and  performs  the  works.     See  ch.  13  ;  49,  note. 

25,26.  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto 
you,  being  yet  present  with  you.  That  is, 
As  far  as  this  I  am  able  to  carry  my  instruc- 
tions, but  no  farther ;  the  Spirit  shall  complete 
them.  Christ  has  already  contrasted  the  work 
of  the  Spirit  with  his  own :  his  own  dwelling 
with  his  disciples  is  temporary,  the  abiding  of 
the  Spirit  is  forever  ;  he  speaks  to  his  disciples, 
the  Spirit  speaks  m  them  (ver.  16,  17).  He  now 
indicates  a  further  point  in  the  contrast.  His 
own  teaching  was  partial ;  for  he  had  many 
things  to  say  which  they  could  not  bear  (john 
16 :  12),  and  much  which  he  did  say  they  could 
not  understand  till  their  experience,  developed 
by  the  indwelling  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  had  pre- 
pared them  to  comprehend  it.  But  the  promised 
Spirit  shall,  as  the  Christian  is  able  to  bear  the 
truth,  teach  all  things.— But  the  Comforter. 
See  above  on  ver.  16,— The  Holy  Spirit.  That 
is,  the  Spirit  of  holiness.  As  he  is  the  Spirit  of 
truth,  because  all  experience  of  the  higher  spir- 
itual truth  comes  in  and  through  him,  so  he  is 
the  Spirit  of  holiness,  because  all  holiness  of  life 
and  character  is  wrought  out  by  the  soul  only  as 
the  Holy  Spirit  works  in  and  with  us  the  good 
pleasure  of  God  (phu.  2 :  12,  k-.  Heb.  13 :  20,  21). — 
Whom  the  Father  Avill  send  in  my  name. 
As  the  disciple  is  to  pray  in  Christ's  name  (see 
ver.  13,  note),  SO  the  Father  will  answer  him  in 
Christ's  name.  That  name  is  Jesus,  i.  e.,  Sa- 
viour, because  he  saves  his  people  from  their 
sins  (Matt.  1  :  2i),  aud  Christ,  i.  e.,  The  Anointed 


182 


26  But"  the  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy  Ghost, 
whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  he'  shall 
teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  re- 
membrance, whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you. 


JOHN.  [Ch.  XIV. 

27  Peace "  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto 
you:  not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you.  Let 
not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be  afraid. 


u  Terse  16 v  ch.  16  ;  13  ;  1  John  2  :  20,  27 w  Ephes.  2  :  14-17  ;  Phil.  4  :  7. 


One,  because  he  is  the  High  Priest  who  makes 
atonement  for  the  sins  of  his  people,  and  recon- 
ciles them  unto  God.  See  Vol.  I,  p.  57,  Note, 
etc.,  on  Names  of  Jesus.  The  Holy  Spirit  is, 
then,  sent  in  his  name,  not  because  he  is  sent  in 
his  stead  ;  he  is  not ;  the  work  of  the  Spirit  and 
of  the  Son  are  not  the  one  in  lieu  of  the  other ; 
nor  because  he  is  sent  in  answer  to  the  intercesso- 
ry prayer  of  the  Son ;  the  love  of  the  Father  is  the 
cause  of  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  as  of  the 
incarnation  and  the  atonement  of  the  Son ;  but 
because  he  is  sent  to  complete  the  work  of  the 
Son,  to  perfect  that  salvation  which  is  represented 
by  the  name  Jesus,  and  that  atonement  and  rec- 
onciliation which   is  represented  by  the  word 

Christ  (John  3:  5,  6;  7  ;  39  ;  Rom.  8  :  14-16,  26  ;  14:17;  Gal. 
5  :  16,  17  ;    Ephes.  2  :  18,  etc.). — He    shall    teach    yOU 

all  things.  That  is,  all  things  respecting  the 
divine  life. — And  bring  to  your  remem- 
brance all  things  Avhatsoever  I  have  said 
unto  you.  "He  will  teach  new  truths  by 
recalling  the  old,  and  will  recall  the  old  by  teach- 
ing the  new." — {Godet.)  In  its  application  to 
the  apostles,  this  is  a  promise  of  inspiration  and 
a  guarantee  of  substantial  accuracy,  both  in 
their  reports  of  events  and  of  the  instructions  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  in  their  interpretation  of  the 
laws  and  principles  of  the  spiritual  life.  "It  is 
in  the  fulfillment  of  this  promise  to  the  apostles 
that  their  suflBciency  as  witnesses  of  all  that  the 
Lord  did  and  taught,  and  consequently  the  au- 
thenticity of  the  Gospel  narrative,  is  grounded." 
— {Alford.)  But  there  is  no  reason  to  limit  this 
promise  to  the  twelve  to  whom  it  was  imme- 
diately spoken.  It  occurs  in  the  middle  of  a 
discourse  which  by  universal  consent  belongs  to 
the  church  universal.  There  is  no  consistency 
in  claiming  the  promise  of  the  manifestation  of 
Christ  in  ver.  31,  the  indwelling  of  the  Father 
and  the  Son  in  ver.  23,  and  the  peace  of  God  in 
ver.  27,  and  rejecting  the  promise  of  inspired 
instruction  in  ver.  26.  This  promise,  then,  like 
that  of  Matt.  28  :  20,  is  made  to  the  church  for 
all  time ;  it  is  a  promise  of  a  continually  pro- 
gressive instruction  in  the  spiritual  life,  adapted 
to  varying  needs  and  exigencies,  both  of  the 
community  and  of  the  individual,  carrj'ing  on  to 
its  consummation  the  necessarily  incomplete  in- 
struction of  the  N.  T.,  as  well  as  making  clear  to 
the  spiritual  apprehension  that  which  preced- 
ing generations  either  imperfectly  understood, 
wholly  failed  to  understand,  or  only  partially 
comprehended.      The    spiritual    guide    of    the 


church  is  not  an  oflScial  hierarchy,  nor  ecclesias- 
tical tradition,  but  the  living  experience  of  those 
that  love  Christ,  have  his  words  and  keep  them. 
This  promise  points  to  and  assures  the  church 
of  a  progressive  Christian  theology,  and  corre- 
sponds with  the  apostle  Paul's  declaration,  "  We 
know  in  part  and  we  prophesy  in  part"  (i  cor. 

13  :  9,  lo). 

27.  Peace  1  leave  Avith  you ;  my  peace 

1  give  unto  you.  As  the  peace  of  a  child  de- 
pends on  the  presence  of  his  mother,  so  the 
peace  of  these  disciples  on  the  presence  of  their 
Lord.  He  speaks  to  their  unuttered  forebod- 
ings, and  declares  that  he  will  leave  this  peace 
in  his  departure  as  a  legacy  to  them.  But  he 
will  do  more  than  this.  Thus  far  they  have  had 
peace  in  his  presence  ;  he  will  henceforth  impart 
to  them  his  own  source  of  strength  in  sending  to 
them  the  indwelling  Spirit  of  God,  so  that  they 
shall  have,  as  he  had,  peace  in  themselves.  ' '  My 
peace ''^  implies  the  peace  which  belongs  to  him- 
self, is  a  characteristic  of  his  own  experience  and 
a  part  of  his  own  nature.  So  in  Phil.  4  :  7  the 
"peace  of  God"  is  that  peace  which  is  char- 
acteristic of  the  Divine  Being.  It  was  this 
peace  which  enabled  Christ  to  stand  unmoved 
and  unperturbed  in  the  court  of  Caiaphas  and 
the  hall  of  Pilate.  It  was  the  fulfillment  of  this 
promise  which  enabled  the  apostles  to  meet  in 
like  manner,  unfearing  and  untroubled,  the 
threats  and  persecutions  of  the  authorities  in 
Jerusalem  immediately  after  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost (Acts  4  : 8, 19,  31 ;  5 :  29,  4i) ;  which  gavc  Stephen 
serenity  in  the  storm  of  stones  (Acts  6 :  15 ;  7 :  59, 60) ; 
enabled  Peter  to  sleep  in  chains  (Acts  12 :  6) ;  gave 
to  Paul  and  Silas  their  songs  in  the  night  (Acts 
16 :  25) ;  kept  Paul  unmoved  in  the  midst  of  the 
mob  at  Jerusalem  (Acts  21  :  31-10),  and  in  the  peril 
of  shipwreck  (Acts  27 :  21-26, 31-36).  Compare  also, 
for  expressions  of  this  peace  of  Christ  in  the 
Christian's  experience,  Rom.  5  : 1-.5 ;  8  :  35-39 ; 

2  Cor.  4:7-9;  PhU.  4  :  11-13  ;  Heb.,  ch.  4.  This 
peace  is  a  characteristic  of  the  divine  nature 
(phii.  4  :  7),  therefore  a  characteristic  of  Christ, 
who  is  called  Prince  of  Peace,  because  one  of  the 
distinguishing  characteristics  of  his  kingdom  is 
peace  (isa.  9:6;  Rom.  14  :  17) ;  therefore  a  fruit  of 
the  Spirit  in  the  experience  of  the  followers  of 
Christ  (Rom.  8:6;  Gal.  5 :  22) ;  therefore  the  privi- 
lege and  duty  of  every  disciple,  who  because  of 
his  peace  and  his  power  to  bestow  it  upon  others 
is  called  a  son  of  God  (Matt.  5 : 9).  It  is  therefore 
not  the  peculiar  luxury  of  a  favored  few,  but 


Ch.  XIV.] 


JOHN. 


183 


28  Ye  have  heard  how  I  said  unto  you,  I  go  away. 
If  ye  loved  me,  ye  would 


and  come  again  unto  you. 


rejoice,  because  I  said,  I  '^  go  unto  the  Father :  for 
my  y  Father  is  greater  than  I. 


X  verse  12 y  1  Cor.  15  :  27,  28. 


the  duty  and  privilege  of  all  (Rom.  2 :  lo) ;  not  de- 
pendent on  temperament  or  circumstances,  but 
on  a  faith  which  receives  and  recognizes  an  in- 
dwelling God  (Rom.  6:1;   Ephes.  2  :  14 ;   Phil.  4  t  9)  ;   nOt 

the  occasional  siesta  of  the  wearied  worker,  but 
the  abiding  spirit  and  sacred  power  of  his  work 

(Phil.  4:7;  Col.  1  :  11  ;  3  :  is).  It  IS  UOt  Without  Spirit- 
ual significance  that  Christ's  last  words,  as  of 
"one  who  is  about  to  go  away  and  says  good- 
night and  leaves  his  blessing"  [Luther),  are  a 
promise  of  peace.— Not  as  the  world  giveth 
give  I  unto  you.  The  wish  of  peace  was  a 
customary  leave-taking  among  the  Jews  (i  Sam. 

1:17;  Luke  7  :  60  ;  Acts  16  :  36 ;  1  Pet.  5  :  14 ;  3  John  14.    Compare 

Oen.  43 :  23 ;  Judges  6 :  23).  Christ  distinguishes  his 
promise  here  from  the  salutations,  which  were 
often,  as  with  us,  mere  empty  formalities,  and 
which  at  best  were  but  wishes  or  possibly  pray- 
ers. This  salutation  is  more  than  a  benediction, 
it  is  the  promise  of  an  actual  gift. — Let  not 
your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be 
afraid.  He  thus  returns  to  the  opening  words 
of  his  discourse,  words  of  strength-giving  and 
reassurance  (see  ver.  i). 

38.  Ye  have  heard  how  I  said  unto  you, 
I  go  away  (verses  2, 3,  ij). — If  ye  loved  me  ye 
would  rejoice.  There  is  a  gentle  rebuke  in 
this  language.  It  does  not  involve  a  denial  or 
even  a  doubt  of  their  love,  but  it  recalls  them 
from  the  selfish  thoughts  fixed  wholly  on  their 
own  sorrow  to  their  allegiance  and  love  to  him. 
It  may  well  be  repeated  to  ourselves  in  the  hour 
of  death — parting  from  any  Christian  friend. 
Their  thought  of  theu*  own  future  gives  them 
comfort  (ver.  2  and  3) ;  their  thought  of  Christ's 
love  for  and  presence  with  them  gives  them 
peace  (ver.  26, 27) ;  their  thought  of  his  glory  and 
their  love  for  him  gives  them  joy.  Thus  in  the 
fruit  of  the  Spirit  joy  and  peace  follow  because 
they  grow  out  of  love  (oai.  5 :  22).  We,  as  well  as 
they,  should  rejoice,  not  sorrow,  because  Christ 
no  longer  dwells  incarnate  on  the  earth,  but  has 
gone  to  the  Father. — Because  I  said  I  go 
unto  the  Father:  for  my  Father  is  greater 
than  I.  His  departure  to  be  with  the  greater 
Father  was  to  be  a  cause  of  rejoicing,  not  merely 
to  the  eleven,  but  to  his  church  universal.  This 
is  not  because  he  is  thus  enabled  to  ensure  his 
disciples  a  more  powerful  and  perfect  protector, 
for  the  protection  of  the  Father  is  accorded 
through  the  Son,  and  as  a  protector  the  Son  is 
one  in  power  as  well  as  in  will  with  the  Father 
(John  10 :  30,  note).  Morcover,  it  is  our  love  for 
Christ,  not  the  thought  of  our  own  interest,  not 
even  our  spiritual  interest,  vrhich  is  the  secret  of 


the  joy  which  the  Christian  should  experience  in 
the  exaltation  of  his  Lord.  Noi-  is  the  cause  of  that 
joy  the  fact  that  Christ  was  about  to  enter  into 
glory  and  blessedness  ;  for  it  is  of  the  greatness, 
not  of  the  hlessedness  of  the  Father,  nor  of  his  own 
heavenly  condition,  Christ  speaks ;   the  phrase, 
"The  Father  is  greater  than  I,"  cannot,  without 
violation  of  the  meaning,  be  rendered.  The  Fa- 
ther is  more  blessed  than  I.    It  is  true  that 
because  the  Father  is  greater  than  Christ,  Christ 
in  going  to  the  Father  went  to  a  condition  of 
greater  power  for  his  own  redemptive  work,  for 
the  up-building  of  that  kingdom  to  which  he  and 
his  followers  are  consecrated.     Christ  is  more  to 
his  followers,  more  powerful  in  his  work  of  re- 
deeming love,  in  the  Spirit  than  in  the  flesh, 
absent  from  his  disciples  and  with  the  Father 
than  absent  from  the  Father  and  with  the  disci- 
ples.    But  more  than  this,  more  than  in  our 
ignorance  of  both  the  Father  and  Son  we  can 
comprehend,   is  meant  by  the  declaration  that 
Christ's    going  to    the   Father  was  an   exalta- 
tion, and  in  that  exaltation  we,  his  followers, 
ought  to  rejoice  with  and  in  him,  if  indeed  we 
love    him.      The    declaration,    "  The    Father    is 
greater  than  /,"  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  pre- 
ceding declaration,  "He  that  hath  seen  me  hath 
seen  the  Father,"  for  that  declaration  is  inter- 
preted by  the  one  which  immediately  follows, 
"I  am  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in  me;" 
he  that  has  a  spiritual  apprehension  of  Christ 
has  a  spiritual  apprehension  of  the  Father,  who 
is  manifested  in  and  through  him.     Nor  is  it 
inconsistent  with  Christ's  declaration,   "I  and 
my  Father  are  one,"  for  Christ  as  the  protector 
of  his  people  may  be  one  with  the  Father,  and 
yet  the  Father  may  be  greater  than  the  Son  in 
the  eternal  relation  between  the  two.     Nor  is  it 
inconsistent  with  John's  declaration  that  "The 
Word  was  God,"   for   the    Word  is  not  Jesus 
Christ  (see  ch.  1  :  1,  note),  but  God  as  manifested  to 
the  race,  Jesus  Christ  being  the  Word  made  flesh 
(ch.  1  :  14).     It  is  inconsistent  with  any  view  of 
Christ's  character   which    denies  the    essential 
divinity  of  his  nature;  for  the  creature  cannot 
say  of  God,  without  an  extraordinarily  irrev- 
erent egotism,  "My  Father  is  greater  than  I." 
"  The  creature  who  should  say,  '  God  is  greater 
than  I,'  would  blaspheme  no  less  than  one  who 
should  say,  '  I  am  equal  with  God. '    God  alone 
can  compare  himself  with  God." — (Oodet.)     It 
accords  with  Christ's  habitual  teaching  concern- 
ing himself,  as  one  who  is  sent  forth  by  the 
Father,  derives  his  authority  from  the  Father, 
does  all  things  through  the  power  of  the  Father, 


184 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XIV. 


29  And  now  I  have  told  you  before  it  come  to  pass, 
that,  when  it  is  come  to  pass,  ye  might  believe. 

30  Hereafter  I  will  not  talk  much  with  you :  for  the 
prmce  ^  of  this  world  cometh,  and  hath  nothing  "  in  me. 


31  But  that  the  world  may  know  that  I  love  the 
Father;  and  as ''■the  Father  gave  me  commandment, 
even  so  I  do.    Arise,  let  us  go  hence. 


z  ch.  16  :  n  ;  Ephes.  2:2 a  2  Cor.  6  :  21 ;  Heb.  4:16;  1  John  3:6 b  Ps.  40  :  8 ;  Phil.  2  :  8. 


in  all  things  obeys  the  will  of  the  Father,  and 
will  return  to  the  Father  again  (Matt,  n  :  26,  27; 

20:23;  John  5  :  19,  22,  26,  27  ;  6  :  67  ;  8  :  18,29;  10  :  18,  36;  15:15; 

17 :  18) ;  and  with  that  of  the  N.  T.  generally, 
which  constantly  represents  Christ  as  receiving 
his  divine  power  as  Creator,  Redeemer,  and 
Judge  from  the  Father  (Ephes.  i  :  20-22 ;  Phii.  2:9; 
Heb.  1 : 8, 9;  1  Cor.  16 :  28).  Jcsus  Christ  is  God  man- 
ifed  in  the  flesh,  and  God  in  his  absolute  essence 
is  greater  than  any  manifestation  of  him  is  or 
can  be.  As  the  artist  is  greater  than  his  pic- 
ture, the  architect  than  his  house,  the  orator 
than  his  oration,  so  God  is  greater  than  the 
Word  through  which  he  utters  himself  to  human 
apprehension.  In  thus  interpreting  this  much 
debated  passage,  according  to  the  plain  and  nat- 
ural meaning  of  the  words,  and,  as  it  seems  to 
me,  the  teachings  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  I 
accept  substantially  the  interpretation  of  Meyer, 
who  sees  in  this  declaration  an  illustration  of 
"the  absolute  monotheism  of  Jesus  (ch.  n  :  3), 
and  of  the  whole  N.  T.,  according  to  which  the 
Son,  although  of  divine  essence,  of  one  nature 
with  the  Father  (ch.  1 : 1 ;  pwi.  2:6;  coi.  1 :  le-is),  nev- 
ertheless was  and  is  and  remains  subordinated 
to  the  Father,  the  immutably  higher  one,  since 
the  Son  as  Organ,  as  Commissioner  of  the  Fa- 
ther, as  Intercessor  with  Him,  etc.,  has  received 
his  whole  power  in  the  kingly  office  from  the 
Father  (ch.  17 : 5),  and,  after  the  accomplishment 
of  the  work  committed  to  him,  will  restore  it  to 
the  Father  (1  Cor.  15 :  2s)."  To  the  same  effect, 
but  more  concisely,  Edward  H.  Sears  {Heart  of 
Christ) :  "  God  as  absolute  is  more  than  God  as 
revealed."  Similarly  Olshausen  and  EUicott's 
Commentary.  Observe,  however,  that  Christ's 
language  here  involves  only  the  relations  between 
the  Son  as  incarnate  and  the  Father ;  in  saying  that 
the  Son  ivas  and  remains  subordinated  to  the  Fa- 
ther, Meyer  attributes  to  the  words  here  a  mean- 
ing confessedly  borrowed  from  other  passages. 

Two  other  interpretations  have  been  offered 
from  the  orthodox  point  of  view  :  (1)  That  Christ 
speaks  here  of  himself  as  a  man.  But  this  ancient 
interpretation,  invented  in  the  early  controversy 
with  the  Arians,  and  revived  recently  by  Ryle,  has 
not,  I  think,  despite  the  authority  of  Augustine 
in  its  favor,  the  sanction  of  a  single  modem  exe- 
getical  scholar  of  any  eminence.  It  is  repudiated 
by  Schaff,  Godet,  Luthardt,  Meyer,  Alford,  Tho- 
luck.  This  easy  method  of  solving  the  seeming 
contradictions  of  Christ's  mysterious  nature  is 
utterly  untenable,  for  whatever  opinion  may  be 


entertained  respecting  his  twofold  nature  as 
both  God  and  man,  no  reader  is  authorized  to 
say  what  acts  and  words  were  manifestations  of 
the  human  and  what  of  the  divine  nature.  It  is 
utterly  inapplicable  here,  for  "this  interpreta- 
tion implies  a  mere  platitude.  Who  needs  to  be 
told  that  the  human  nature  is  inferior  to  the  di- 
vine '? " — {Schaff.)  (2)  That  Christ  here  compares 
his  present  earthly  condition  with  that  to  which 
he  will  attain  in  going  to  the  Father.  This  is- 
Calvin's  interpretation.  "Christ  does  not  here 
make  a  comparison  between  the  divinity  of  the 
Father  and  his  own,  nor  between  his  own  human 
nature  and  the  divine  essence  of  the  Father,  but 
rather  between  his  present  state  and  the  heav- 
enly glory  to  which  he  is  afterwards  to  be  re- 
ceived." To  the  same  effect,  substantially,  are 
Alford,  Luthardt,  and  Tholuck.  This  is  cer- 
tainly involved  in  the  language  ;  the  return  from 
union  with  humanity  to  union  with  the  Father 
was  a  change  from  a  lower  and  lesser  to  a  higher 
and  greater  condition.  But  much  more  is  in- 
volved, for  Christ  by  his  words  institutes  a  com- 
parison, not  between  his  earthly  and  his  heavenly 
condition,  as  does  Paul  in  Phil.  3  :  6-11,  but  be- 
tween himself  and  his  Father. 

29-31.  And  now  I  have  told  you  *  *  * 
that  when  it  is  come  to  pass  ye  might 
have  faith.  That  is,  before  the  Passion  he 
foretells  it  and  directs  the  thoughts  and  hopes 
of  his  disciples  to  a  point  beyond,  to  the  results- 
which  are  to  be  produced  by  the  crucifixion,  so 
that  when  the  night  of  darkness  comes  these 
words  ma}'  remain  to  keep  alive  their  faith  ia 
him  as  one  not  dead,  but  only  gone  to  the  com- 
panionship of  the  Father,  and  coming  again  with 
the  Father  to  be  the  spiritual  and  indwelling 
companion  of  his  own.  Indirectly  the  oflSce  of 
prophecy  is  implied  in  these  words  ;  it  is  not  ta 
give  in  the  present  a  clear  view  of  the  future, 
but  to  sustain  faith  and  hope  and  courage,  and 
make  it  clear  to  the  believer,  when  the  events 
themselves  take  place,  that  nothing  is  unex- 
pected and  unprovided  for  by  his  Father  and 
Saviour. — The  prince  of  this  world  is  com- 
ing. See  note  on  ch.  12  :  31.  "Jesus  sees  the 
devil  himself  in  the  agents  and  executors  of  his 

designs    (ch.    13  :  2,  27;    6  :  70;    Luke  4  :  13)." — (Jfcj/CT'.) 

And  yet  the  cup  which  they  presented  to  him  he 
accounts  the  cup  which  his  Father  giveth  him 
(ch.  18  :  ii),  for  even  the  prince  of  this  world  is 
not  beyond  the  supreme  control  of  God.  The 
language  here,  as  in  ch.  12  :  31,  plainly  implies 


Ch.  XV.]  JOHN. 

Christ's  belief  in  a  personal  devil,  and  the  devJl's 
influence  over  and  use  of  men  as  his  instru- 
ments.—Hath  nothing  in  me.  Satan  never 
succeeds  in  the  accomplishment  of  his  evQ  de- 
signs except  when  he  tinds  i7i  the  tempted  some- 
thing that  recognizes  him  and  pays  allegiance  to 
him.  He  that  is  only  m  the  world  but  not  of 
the  world  may  be  under  the  power  of  Satan,  but 
cannot  be  in  his  power.  The  declaration  here  is 
confirmatory  of  that  implied  by  ch.  8  :  46. — But 
that  the  world  may  know  that  I  love  the 
Father,  etc.,  *  *  *  arise,  let  us  go 
hence.  Our  English  version  is  erroneously 
punctuated.  There  should  be  no  break  in  the 
verse.  Christ  knew  that  Judas  had  gone  out  to 
perfect  arrangements  for  the  betrayal,  knew  the 
shame  and  torture  that  were  before  him,  knew 
also  the  power  of  the  Father  to  accomplish  the 
world's  redemption  by  that  suffering  if  it  was 
endured  to  the  end,  and  bade  his  disciples  arise 
that  they  might  go  forth  with  him,  as  he  Avent 
forth  to  show  the  world  his  love  for  and  obedi- 
ence to  the  Father.  Thus,  as  he  has  just  told 
his  disciples  that  they  are  to  show  their  love  to 
him  by  their  obedience  (ver.  21,  23),  he  prepares  to 
show  his  love  to  the  Father  by  his  obedience. 
But  though  they  arose,  they  did  not  go  imme- 
diately out.  See  Prel.  Note  to  next  chapter,  and 
ch.  18  :'l.  


185 


Ch.  15  :  1-27.     CHRIST  AND  HIS  CHURCH.— Christ 

ABIDES  IN  THE   SOtTL.— ThB    SOUL  IS  SAFE   ONLY  AS  IT 

ABIDES  IN  Christ. — This  abioino  is  the  condition 
op  successful  prater  ;  of  practical  godliness  ; 
op  self-sacrificing  love  ;  of  spiritual  jot. — 
Christ  a  revealer,  not  a  'law-giver. — The  world 

AND  the  church. — ThE  PERSECUTION  OP  THE  WORLD  ; 
the  WITNESSINQ  power  op  the  CHURCH. 

Preliminakt  Note. — Some  scholars  suppose 
that  Christ,  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  dis- 
course, arose  with  his  disciples  and  passed  out 
of  the  room  where  they  had  been  at  supper  into 
the  valley  of  the  Kedron,  the  vicinity  of  the  gar- 
den of  Gethsemane,  and  that  the  discourse  was 
continued  there,  in  or  near  one  of  the  vineyards 
which  abound  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  city. 
Others  suppose  that  they  arose  to  go  ;  that,  the 
heart  of  the  Master  being  surcharged  with  the 
truth  which  he  was  endeavoring  to  express  to 
them,  the  Divine  Immanence,  he  broke  forth 
afresh  with  the  same  truth  in  a  new  form,  and 
that  the  discourse  recorded  in  this  and  the  next 
chapter,  and  the  prayer  recorded  in  ch.  17,  were 
uttered  in  the  same  room  in  which  the  preced- 
ing discourse  was  uttered.  Both  suppositions 
are  purely  conjectural ;  the  latter  appears  to  me 
the  more  rational,  because :  (1)  The  truths  em- 
bodied in  this  and  the  succeeding  chapter  are  the 
same  as  the  one  embodied  in  the  preceding  one ; 
the  form  alone  varies.  The  structure  and  the  fibre 
of  the  discourse  is  that  of  one  which  flows  from  a 


heart  burdened  with  a  profound  truth  which  can 
be  expressed  only  by  rciteiation,  and  even  then 
only  inadequately.  {2}  It  is  hardly  credible  that 
such  a  conversation  could  have  been  uttered,  as 
some  have  imagined,  while  Jesus  and  his  disci- 
ples were  on  their  way  out  of  the  city  ;  and  no 
reason  is  offered  for  the  hypothesis  that  it  was 
abruptly  broken  off  and  transferred  to  another 
and  apparently  less  convenient  place.  (3)  Ch. 
18  : 1  plainly  implies  that  Jesus  did  not  go  forth, 
i.  e.,  from  the  room  where  they  were  gathered, 
till  the  end  of  this  conversation  with  them  and 
after  the  prayer  with  which  it  was  closed.  Va- 
rious hypotheses  have  also  been  proffered  re- 
specting the  probable  circumstance  that  sug- 
gested to  Christ  the  metaphor  which  underlies 
the  first  part  of  this  chapter :  Vineyards  on  the 
way  to  Gethsemane  (Lampe),  the  carved  vine  on 
the  great  doors  of  the  temple  {Hosenmuller),  a 
vine  trained  about  the  window  of  the  great 
chamber  {Knapp),  the  cup  so  lately  partaken 
{Meyer,  Stier),  O.  T.  symbolism  of  the  vineyard 
and  the  vine  {Alford).  These  are  also  all  con- 
jectural ;  it  is  enough  to  say  that  the  parable 
here  must  be  studied  in  the  light  of  the  teach- 
ings both  of  nature  and  of  the  O.  T.  use  of  nature 
in  the  passages  below  referred  to.  The  use  of 
the  vine  as  a  symbol  by  O.  T.  prophets  was  so 
familiar  that  it  could  hardly  have  been  absent 
from  the  minds  of  both  Christ  and  the  apostles. 
Examine  with  care  Jer.  2  :  21 ;  Ezek.  15  : 2,  6  ;  and 
especially  Psalm  80  :  8-19,  and  Isaiah  5  : 1-7.  The 
truth  taught  here  by  a  metaphor  is  the  same  as 
that  taught  in  the  preceding  chapter  unmeta- 
phorically,  and  in  other  passages  by  other  meta- 
phors. (1)  The  vine  and  its  branches  are  a  per- 
petual parable  of  Christ  and  his  church.  It  is 
not  enough  to  leam  of  Christ  as  from  a  teacher, 
to  follow  him  as  an  example,  or  to  accept  for- 
giveness through  him  as  both  priest  and  sacri- 
fice ;  we  must  be  personally  united  to  him,  and 
from  him  draw  our  spiritual  life,  and  so  grow 
into  his  image.  As  the  branch  draws  its  sap  by 
a  continuous  flow  from  the  vine,  and  becomes 
identified  with  it  in  character,  and  bears  its 
fruit,  and  dies  when  separated  from  it,  so  we 
must  abide  in  a  living  Christ,  draw  our  spiritual 
sustenance  from  him,  become  more  and  more 
Christlike  in  our  nature,  and  bear  his  fruit  in 
our  lives.  See  John  6  :  56-58,  note,  and  refs. 
there  cited.  (2)  In  the  O.  T.  imagery  the  vine 
planted  by  the  husbandman  was  the  house  of 
Israel.  But  despite  the  divine  cultivator  it 
brought  forth  wild  grapes ;  it  proved  to  be  no 
true  vine.  Wherefore  it  was  broken  down,  laid 
waste,  burned,  and  a  new  vine  was  planted  in  its 
place.  This  true  vine  is  Christ ;  not  the  man 
Christ  Jesus,  but  the  living,  abiding  Christ,  the 
Christ  who  is  with  his  people  alway,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world  (Matt.  28  :  20),  the   Christ 


186 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XV. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

AM  the  true  vine/  and  my  Father  is  the  husband- 
man.* 


2  Every  branch «  in  me  that  beareth  not  fruit  he 
taketh  away  :  and  every  brafich  that  beareth  ^  Iruit,  he 
purgeth  it,  that  it  may  bring  forth  more  fruit. 


c  Isa.  4:2 d  Cant.  8  :  12 e  Matt.  IS  :  13 f  Heb.  12  :  15  ;  Rev.  3  :  19. 


whose  true  body  is  his  church  (i  Cor.  12 :  27),  who 
is  the  head  from  which  they  all  draw  their  life 
(Kphes.  4:15;  Col.  1  :  is),  who  reproduces  himself  in 
every  true  disciple,  since  only  they  in  whom  is 
the  spirit  of  Christ  are  truly  his  (Rom.  8 : 9),  and 
who  is  thus  far  more  widely  and  potently  in  the 
earth  to-day  than  he  ever  was  or  could  be  in  the 
flesh.  This  living  and  perpetually  incarnate 
Christ  is  in  a  sense  identical  with  his  living 
church,  as  the  vine  is  identical  with  its  branches ; 
for  as  there  could  be  no  vine  without  branches, 
80  neither  could  this  Christ  be  without  the 
church  which  he  animates.  This  Christ  incar- 
nate, not  in  the  body  of  a  single  man,  but  in  the 
church  universal  which  is  now  his  body,  is  the 
true  Israel  of  God,  the  nation  to  whom  the  king- 
dom of  God  has  been  given,  that  was  taken  from 
the  old  Israel  because  it  brought  not  forth  the 
fruits  thereof  (Matt.  21  :  43).  This  true  vine  is  con- 
trasted with  the  old  Israel  which  proved  to  be  no 
true  vine.  No  longer  is  there  any  possibility 
that  the  vine  shall  be  broken  down  and  de- 
stroyed with  fire  as  the  old  vine  was  (isa.  5:5;  Ps. 
80  :  16) ;  but  each  branch  that  abides  not  in  this 
everlasting  vine,  this  living,  perpetually  incar- 
nate and  ever  extending  Christ,  is  broken  off 
from  the  vine  and  destroyed.  In  brief,  in  study- 
ing this  parable,  the  student  must  not  forget, 
what  the  commentators  have  often  forgotten, 
that  throughout  this  last  discourse  with  his  dis- 
ciples Christ  speaks  of  himself  not  as  a  man 
about  to  die,  but  as  a  living  Christ,  forever  in- 
carnate in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  his  own,  living 
on  in  the  world  with  mightier  and  wider  influ- 
ence, and  in  more  intimate  communion  and  com- 
panionship with  his  disciples  after  his  crucifixion 
than  before.  It  is  this  ever-living  Christ,  repro- 
duced in  all  his  members,  and  spreading  over 
the  whole  earth,  that  is  the  true  vine,  in  contrast 
with  the  old  Israel,  which  proved  to  be  no  true 
vine  ;  of  this  vine  the  Father  is  the  husband- 
man; in  this  vine  each  individual  disciple  is  a 
branch  or  shoot. 

1,  2.  I  am  the  true  vine.  So  he  is  the  true 
light  (ch.  1 : 9)  and  true  bread  (ch.  6 :  32, 33),  the  spirit- 
ual being  the  true,  the  external  and  material 
being  the  shadows  that  are  "figures  of  the 
true  "  (Heb.  9 :  24).  The  images  of  the  Bible,  es- 
pecially those  employed  by  Christ,  are  not  merely 
poetic  figures.  The  outward  world  is  a  real 
symbol  of  the  invisible  world,  physical  growths 
are  a  parable  of  spiritual  growths,  the  kingdom 
of  nature  a  picture  of  the  kingdom  of  grace. 


because  both  come  from  the  same  creative  hand, 
are  made  subject  to  the  same  great  laws,  and 
are  under  the  same  great  King.  The  phj^sical 
vine  is  the  shadow  ;  Christ  is  the  true,  real  vine, 
whom  the  shadow  symbolizes ;  and  it  will  last 
when  the  shadow  has  passed  away  ;  as  he  is  the 
true  priest  and  sacrifice,  outlasting  the  apparent 
priest  and  sacrifice  of  the  O.  T.  dispensation. — 
My  Father  is  the  husbandman.  Cultivat- 
ing the  vine,  and  superintending  its  growth. 
This  cultivation  has  been  going  on  through  the 
centuries,  in  all  the  growth  of  that  invisible *but 
perpetually  incarnated  Christ  whose  body  is  the 
church,  and  who  dwells  in  and  is  therefore  rep- 
resented by  all  his  members.  The  language 
shows  clearly  that  it  is  not  of  the  man  Christ 
Jesus  about  to  die  upon  the  cross,  but  of  the 
ever-living  Christ,  immanent  in  the  Holy  Catho- 
lic Church,  that  he  here  speaks.  —  Every 
branch  in  me  that  beareth  not  fruit. 
How  can  a  branch  be  in  Christ  and  bear  no 
fruit?  Calvin's  explanation  that  ift  me  is  equiv- 
alent to  siqjposed  to  he  in  me  is  inadmissible.  It 
does  not  explain  Christ's  words,  but  substitutes 
others  for  them.  Alford's  explanation  is  better, 
but  it  labors  under  the  serious  disadvantage  of 
substituting  for  Christ's  declaration  "I  am  the 
vine,"  the  very  diflerent  declaration.  The  visible 
church  is  the  vine.  "  The  vine  is  the  visible 
church  here,  of  which  Christ  is  the  inclusive 
head ;  the  vine  contains  the  branches,  hence  the 
unfruitful  as  well  as  the  fruitful  are  in  me." 
But  to  be  in  the  visible  church  and  to  be  in  liv- 
ing communion  with  Christ  are  very  diflerent 
things.  I  should  rather  say  that  Christ  here 
lays  down,  in  a  simile,  the  general  law  that  to 
him  that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  from  him  that 
hath  not  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which  he 
hath.  If  the  soul,  in  the  measure  in  Avhich  it 
has  knowledge  of  Christ,  bears  Christian  fruit, 
it  will  grow  more  and  more  into  oneness  with 
and  likeness  of  Christ ;  if,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
does  not  realize  the  fruits  of  its  knowledge  in  a 
life  fruitful  in  Christian  works,  it  will  gradually 
lose  its  knowledge  and  become  separated  from 
Christ.  Thus  both  the  grafting  into  and  the 
separating  from  the  vine  are  in  the  spiritual  ex- 
perience gradual  processes,  and  they  depend  on 
the  fidelity  with  which  the  conscious  branch 
avails  itself  of  its  privilege,  and  shows  itself 
worthy  of  larger  privilege.  Thus  Christ  gives 
grace  for  grace  (ch.  i :  le). — He  taketh  away. 
The  same  word  {aXqw)  is  used  in  1  Cor.  5  :  3  of 


Ch.  XT.J 


JOHN. 


isr 


3  Now  ye  s  are  clean  through  the  word  which  I  have 
spoken  unto  you. 

4  Abide  *'  in  me,  and  I  in  you.    As '  the  branch  can- 


not bear  fruit  of  itself,  except  it  abide  in  the  vine  ;  no 

more  can  ye,  except  ye  abide  in  me. 
5  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches :  He  that  abid- 


g  ch.  17  :  17  ;  Ephes.  6  :  26 ;  1  Pet.  1  :  22 li  1  John  2  :  6  ....  i  Hosea  14:8;  Gal.  2  :  20  ;  Phil.  1:11. 


excommunication;  that  indicates  the  meaning 
here.  It  is  not  declared  that  the  fruitless 
Christian  shall  be  destroyed,  though  later,  in 
ver.  6,  destruction  is  declared  to  be  the  final 
result  of  cutting  off  from  Christ.  Fruitlessness 
cuts  off  (excommunicates)  the  soul  from  com- 
munion with  and  drawing  life  from  Christ ;  this 
ends  in  spiritual  withering,  death,  and  destruc- 
tion (ver.  6).  Thus  this  declaration  is  the  con- 
verse of  that  of  ch.  14  :  23,  "If  a  man  love  me 
he  -will  keep  my  words  (bear  my  fruit),  and  my 
Father  wiU  love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto 
him  and  make  our  abode  with  him."  If  he  keei) 
not  Christ's  words  (bear  not  Christ's  fruit),  he 
will  not  have  the  abiding  of  the  Father  and  the 
Son.  The  fruit  of  Christ  is  the  same  as  the  fruit 
of  the  Spirit  (oai.  5 :  22, 23) ;  and  in  the  measure  in 
which  this  fruit  is  borne  in  the  life,  is  the  soul 
enriched  in  the  spiritual  knowledge  of  Christ 
which  enables  it  to  bear  still  more  fruit.  Thus 
frultfulness  in  the  life  develops  the  conscious- 
ness of  Christ's  indwelling,  and  the  conscious- 
ness of  Christ's  indwelling  in  the  soul  develops 
Christian  frultfulness  in  the  life.  The  whole 
truth  is  well  illustrated  by  3  Pet.  1  :  5-9. — And 
every  branch  that  beareth  fruit,  he 
cleanseth  it  that  it  may  bring  forth  more 
fruit.  The  word  rendered  in  ver.  2 purgeth  and 
that  rendered  in  ver.  3  clean  are  radically  the  same. 
Christ  cleanseth  the  soul  (1)  by  the  operation  of 
the  law  that  right  doing  develops  right  feeling 
and  opens  the  heart  to  higher  influences  (ch.  7 :  n) ; 
(2)  by  the  sanctifying  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  which  is  given  to  each  soul  in  the  measure 
in  which  each  proves  itself  worthy  of  and  willing 
to  receive  him ;  (3)  by  the  discipline  of  life,  which 
is  the  manifestation  of  God's  special  love  to  the 
soul  (Heb.  12 : 6).  The  objcct  of  all  this  redemp- 
tive work  is  in  order  that  (i'la)  the  soul  may 
bring  forth  more  fruit.  Thus  Christian  frultful- 
ness in  the  life  is  both  the  condition  and  the  final 
result  of  the  divine  purifying  process  in  the  life 
of  the  soul. 

3,  4.  Already  ye  are  clean  throngh  the 
Avord  Avhich  I  have  spoken  unto  you. 
Ver.  3  must  be  read  in  connection  with  ver.  4, 
to  which  it  is  introductory.  Throngh  (Ji«)  al- 
ways indicates  the  instrument,  never  the  cause. 
The  spoken  word  is  the  instrument  in  God's 
hand  for  the  cleansing  of  the  soul  (ch.  n  :  n) ; 
and  when  received  by  an  obedient  faith,  becomes 
the  means  of  regeneration  (james  i :  is;  i  Pet.  i :  23) 
and  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  (Rom.  1  :  le). 
This  word  is  not  any  particular  utterance  of  Christ, 


but  his  whole  ministry,  both  of  promise  and 
teachmg,  including  his  gift  of  pardon  and  peace, 
and  his  call  to  Christian  activity.  The  meaning, 
then,  is  this :  You  are  already  cleansed  from 
past  sin  through  your  acceptance  of  and  obedi- 
ence to  my  word.  But  you  are  not  to  imagine 
that  my  work  is  done  when  I  depart  and  cease 
to  be  visibly  present  with  you.  You  are  still  to 
abide  in  me  spiritually  ;  for  without  this  spirit- 
ual abiding  all  your  past  cleansing  can  accom- 
plish nothing  ;  without  me  as  a  living  and  life- 
giving  Saviour  you  can  bear  no  Christ-like  fruit 
in  your  lives.  The  lesson  for  us  is  that  Christ's 
work  was  not  finished  (though  his  sacrifice  was) 
on  the  cross,  that  our  work  is  not  finished  in 
accepting  forgiveness  through  him  and  conse- 
crating ourselves  to  obedience  to  his  will,  but 
that  the  finished  work  of  his  death  was  only 
preparatory  for  the  entire  work  of  his  life  in  us 
(Rom.  0 :  10),  and  that  our  acceptance  of  pardon  is 
only  a  preparation  for  a  life  continually  hid  with 
Christ  in  God  (oai.  2 :  20;  Coi.  3 : 3). — Abide  in  me 
and  I  in  you.  This  is  not  a  direction  and  a 
promise,  equivalent  to.  If  you  abide  in  me  I  will 
abide  in  you  ;  it  is  a  twofold  direction  :  Abide 
in  me ;  see  to  it  that  I  abide  in  you.  It  thus 
implies  that  Christ's  indwelling  in  us  is  depend- 
ent upon  ourselves.  If  any  man  hear  Christ's 
voice  and  opens  the  door,  Christ  comes  in  to 
him  and  sups  with  him  (Rev.  3 :  20).  He  that  hun- 
gers and  thirsts  after  righteousness  is  filled  (Matt. 
6 :  e).  By  fidelity  and  obedience  we  abide  in 
Christ ;  by  docility  and  spiritual  obedience  we 
open  the  door  that  Christ  may  abide  with  us. — 
As  the  branch  cannot  bear  fruit  of  itself 
(Jf^'  tuvrov)  except  it  abide  in  the  vine,  no 
more  can  ye  except  ye  abide  in  me.  So 
the  Son  can  do  nothing  of  fdmseJf  (ch.  5 :  19,  note), 
but  does  all  things  abiding  in  and  through  the 
power  of  the  Father.  The  disciple  abiding  in 
Christ  comes  at  last  to  abide  with  Christ  in  the 
Father ;  and  this  is  the  consummation,  when  the 
Father  becomes  all  in  all  (ch.  n  :  21,  24;  1  Cor.  is :  28). 
Thus  all  spiritual  life  comes  from  the  Father  by 
Christ,  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  word, 
to  the  soul  that  abides  in  and  with  Christ  as 
Christ  abides  in  and  with  the  Father. 

5,  6.  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches. 
Note  the  contrast.  No  mere  teacher  or  prophet 
could  have  spoken  thus  to  his  fellow-creatures. 
— He  that  abideth  in  me  and  I  in  him,  the 
same  bringeth  forth  much  fruit.  This 
mystical  dwelling  with  a  living  and  present 
Christ  is  the  condition  of  a  fruitful  Christian 


188 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XV. 


eth  in  me,  and  I  in  him,  the  same  bringeth  forth  much 
fruit:  for  without  me  ye  can  do  nothing. 

6  If  a  J  man  abide  not  in  me,  he  is  cast  forth  as  a 
branch,  and  is  withered  ;  and  men  gather  them,  and 
cast  them  into  the  fire,  and  they  are  burned. 


■  7  If  ye  abide  in  me,  and  my  words  abide  in  you, 
ye''  shall  ask  what  ye  will,  and  it  shall  be  done  unto 
you. 

8  Herein  is  my  Father  glorified,  that  ye  bear  much 
fruit ;  so  shall  ye  be  my  disciples. 


j  Matt.  3  :  10  ;  7  :  19 k  ch.  16  :  23. 


character.— Because  apart  from  me  ye  can 

do  nothins:.  Rather  severed,  as  a  branch  from 
the  vine ;  and  the  negation  is  intense,  a  double 
negative :  ye  can  by  no  means  do  anything.  All 
Christless  activity  counts  for  nothing  ;  it  har- 
vests "nothing  but  leaves."  Thus  moral  excel- 
lence is  not  the  preparation  for  and  the  condition 
of  spiritual  life ;  spiritual  life  is  the  preparation 
for  and  the  condition  of  moral  excellence. 
Though  each  promotes  the  other,  the  first  step 
for  the  reforming  soul  should  be  to  seek  union 
with  Christ,  without  whom  we  can  do  nothing. 
Contrast  with  Christ's  declaration  here  Paul's 
in  Phil.  4  :  13,  "I  can  do  all  things  through 
Him  (Christ)  that  strengtheneth  me."  No  con- 
clusion can  be  drawn  from  this  utterance  re- 
specting the  vexed  question  of  the  natural  ability 
of  the  soul  to  repent  of  sin  and  accept  Christ  by 
faith.  For  Christ  is  here  speaking  to  those  who 
have  thus  accepted  him,  and  he  declares  simply 
the  condition  of  fruitful  Christian  activity  for 
all  those  who  are,  at  least  in  avowed  purpose, 
already  his. — In  case  any  one  shall  not  have 
abided  in  me  he  has  been  cast  out  like 
the  branch  that  is  withered,  and  they 
gather  them  together  and  they  are  burned. 
This  translation  is  Meyer's,  who  thus  comments 
on  the  significance  of  the  change  in  the  tenses : 
"Jesus  places  himself  at  the  point  of  time  of 
the  execution  of  the  last  judgment,  when  those 
who  have  fallen  away  from  him  are  gathered 
together  and  cast  into  the  fire,  after  they  have 
been  previously  cast  out  of  his  communion  and 
become  withered,  having  completely  lost  the 
true  life."  They  that  gather  the  withered 
branches  for  the  fire  are  not  »iew,  but  the  angels 
(Matt.  13 :  49, 5o).  The  metaphorical  language  ought 
not,  however,  to  be  too  far  pressed.  The  para- 
ble ends  in  a  tragic  consummation,  but  Christ 
pictures  only  the  end  of  the  fruitless  and  severed 
branches,  as  a  warning  to  the  disciples  ;  he  does 
not  declare  that  this  fate  actually  impends  over 
any  truly  new-born  soul.  Hence  we  cannot  de- 
duce from  his  language  the  conclusion  of  Meyer 
and  Alford  that  the  verse  involves  the  possibility 
of  falling  from  grace.  The  whole  teaching  is 
full  of  warning  to  every  one  to  make  his  calling 
and  election  sure,  not  to  rest  in  a  "  finished  sal- 
vation ;"  and  in  this  it  corresponds  with  the 
uniform  teaching  of  the  N.  T.  (phii.  2 :  12, 13 ;  Heb. 
4 :  11 ;  12 :  15 ;  2  Pet.  1 :  lo).  The  admouition  is  some- 
what analogous  to  and  may  be  interpreted  by 
that  of  Paul  in  Ephes.  5  :  6,  7,  and  Col.  3  :  5,  an 


admonition  pertinent  to  all  who  substitute  a 
supposed  faith  in  Christ's  perfect  work  for  prac- 
tical obedience,  a  faith  that  works  by  love.  Al- 
ford's  interpretation  '■'■hurneth,  not  is  burned  in 
any  sense  of  being  consumed,"  is  a  striking  illus- 
tration, such  as  Alford  does  not  often  afford,  of 
modifying  the  text  to  escape  an  unwelcome  con- 
clusion. The  verb  (xaiizui)  is  in  the  passive 
tense,  and  the  figure  is  certainly  one  of  destruc- 
tion, not  of  torment.  But  it  is  not  to  be  taken 
literally.  The  essential  truth  which  underlies 
the  metaphor  is  simply  this,  that  the  soul  which 
is  separated  from  Christ  is  separated  from  the 
source  of  spiritual  life,  withers  away,  and  is 
eventually  destroyed.  What  is  soul  destruction 
is  a  question  not  here  considered. 

7,  8.  If  ye  abide  in  me  and  my  w^ords 
abide  in  you,  ye  shall  ask  what  ye  will, 
and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you.  Therein  is 
my  Father  glorified ;  so  that  ye  shall 
bear  much  fruit  and  shall  become  my 
disciples.  The  words  of  Christ  are  his  whole 
teaching,  his  commandments,  revelations,  prom- 
ises ;  to  be  accepted  by  obedience,  faith,  hope. 
They  are  said  to  abide  in  the  soul  only  as  they 
spring  up  and  bear  fruit  in  the  life  (Matt.  i3 : 8, 23). 
Thus  to  have  Christ's  words  abiding  in  us  is  the 
same  as  to  bear  Christian  fruit.  To  him  who 
thus  abides  in  Christ  and  bears  his  fruit  this 
promise  is  made,  analogous  to  and  interpreted 
by  that  of  ch.  li  :  13,  14.  The  prayers  of  those 
who  are  thus  pervaded  by  the  spirit  of  Christ 
are,  like  their  Master's,  those  of  not  merely  a 
humble  submission  to,  but  a  supreme  desire  for, 
the  wUl  of  God  (Matt.  6 : 9, 10 ;  26 :  39).  Hcncc  in 
answering  them  the  Father  is  glorified.  For  the 
prayer  of  him  in  whom  Christ's  words  abide  will 
always  embrace  a  supreme  desire  for  the  Father's 
glory.  Comp.  Christ's  prayer  in  ch.  17.  An- 
swer to  such  prayers  is  given  that  the  praying 
Christian  may  both  bear  much  fruit  and  become 
a  disciple  ;  both  fruit-bearing  in  the  life  and  docil- 
ity of  spirit,  i.  e.,  both  practical  obedience  to 
Christ  and  the  spiritual  capacity  to  appreciate 
Christ's  instructions,  are  the  result  of  this  life  of 
prayer,  and  are  a  divine  answer  to  prayer.  The 
translation  given  in  the  English  version,  so  shall 
ye  be  my  disciples,  is  possibly  legitimate,  but 
it  reverses  the  true  order  of  the  spiritual  life,  by 
representing  that  fnait-bearing  is  the  condition  of 
becoming  a  disciple  of  Christ ;  and  the  other 
construction  is  both  more  in  harmony  with  the 
general  teaching  of  the  N.  T.  and  also  with  the 


Ch.  XV.] 


JOHN. 


189 


9  As  the  Father  hath  loved  me,  so  have  I  loved  you  : 

continue  ye  in  my  love. 

10  If  ye '  keep  my  commanilments,  ye  shall  abide  in 
my  love  ;  even  as  I  have  kept  my  Fatner's  command- 
ments, and  abide  in  his  love. 

11  These  things  have  I  spoken  untcpyou,  that  my  joy 
might  remain  in  you,  and  that  your""  loy  might  be  full. 

12  This"  is  my  commandment,  Tnat  ye  love  one 
another,  as  I  have  loved  you. 


13  Greater  love"  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man 
lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends. 

14  YeP  are  my  friends,  if  ye  do  whatsoever  I  com- 
mand you. 

15  Henceforth  I  call  you  not  servants ;  for  the  ser- 
vant knoweth  not  what  his  lord  doeth :  but  1  have 
called  you  friends :  "i  for  all  things  that  I  have  heard 
of  my  Father  I  have  made  known  unto  you. 

16  Ve'  have  not  chosen  me,  but  1  have  chosen  you, 


1  ch.  14  :  21,23 m  ch.  16  :  24  ;   17  :  13 neb.  13  :  34 o  Rom.  6  :  7,  8 p  verse  10 q  James  2  :  23 r  1  John  4  :  10,  la. 


original  here.  That  (hu  is  telic)  is  equivalent  to 
in  order  that,  but  the  meaning  is  not  that  God  is 
glorified  for  the  purpose  of  perfecting  Christian 
character,  hut  that  prayer  in  the  name  and  spirit 
of  Christ  is  answered  for  that  purpose. 

9-11.  As  the  Father  hath  loved  nie,  so 
have  I  loved  you.  Abide  ye  in  my  love. 
As  indicates  the  quality  and  character  of  the 
love.  Christ's  love  for  the  disciples  is,  like  the 
Father's  love  for  Christ,  a  love  personal,  warm, 
strong ;  but  one  that  does  not  shield  from  all 
temptation,  suffering,  or  even  injustice.  The 
word  rendered  continue  in  ver.  9  is  the  same  ren- 
dered abide  in  ver.  7.  My  love  is  Christ's  love 
for  us,  not  our  love  for  him.  The  meaning  then 
is,  I  have  loved  you  with  the  love  which  the 
Father  has  for  me ;  so  live  as  to  retain  this  love. 
And  the  next  sentence  Indicates  how  this  is  to 
be  done. — If  ye  keep  my  commandments  ye 
shall  abide  in  my  love,  even  as,  etc.  On 
the  meaning  of  the  "word  keep,  see  ch.  14  :  21, 
note.  The  commandments  are  all  summed  up 
in  the  one  command,  "Follow  me,"  .ind  this 
again  is  mterpreted  by  the  command,  "  That  ye 
love  one  another  as  I  have  loved  you."  Love  is 
the  key  to  Christ's  character ;  to  love  is  to  fol- 
low Christ.  A  life  of  asceticism  or  of  retirement 
and  meditation  is  not  the  way  to  this  indwelling 
with  Christ.  The  condition  is  love  in  activity  of 
service ;  a  love  and  life  like  that  of  Christ, 
which  was  neither  one  of  asceticism  nor  one  of 
repose. — These  things  have  I  spoken  unto 
you  that  my  joy  might  remain  in  you, 
and  your  joy  might  be  full.  One  object  of 
his  address  (comp.  ver.  n ;  ch.  16 : 1, 4, 33)  is  that  he  may 
perfect  in  them  and  in  us  that  Christian  joy 
which  is  one  of  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  (Oai.  5  :  22; 
Rom.  14  :  n),  joy  in  the  Lord,  i.  e.,  in  his  compan- 
ionship, in  fulfilling  his  will,  in  suffering  with 
and  for  him,  in  doing  his  service  (Acts  5 :  4i ;  phu. 
2  :  17,  18;  4:4);  the  joy  which  Christ  sets  before 
himself,  and  for  which  he  endured  the  cross, 
despising  the  shame  (Luke  24  :  26 ;  Heb.  12 :  2).  By 
my  joy  is  meant,  not  joy  concerning  Christ,  nor 
joy  derived  from  Christ,  nor  joy  of  Christ  him- 
self in  us,  his  disciples,  though  this  last  is  a  pos- 
sible interpretation,  but  his  own  joy,  i.  e.,  joy 
like  his,  having  the  same  source  in  God  and  the 
same  quality,  enduring  and  invincible.  And  if 
this  joy  is  in  the  soul,  the  soul  is  full;  it  leaves 


nothing  to  be  desired.  In  words  there  Is,  in  ex- 
perience there  is  not,  a  contradiction  in  the  im- 
pUcation  that  he  who  was  a  man  of  sorrows  and 
acquainted  with  grief  was  also  one  possessing 
the  most  radiant  joyfulness.  This  promise  of 
joy,  uttered  by  Christ  just  before  Gethsemane 
and  Calvary,  is  itself  a  song  in  the  night,  and  a 
promise  of  one  to  every  Christian  soul  in  its  own 
passion  hour. 

12-14.  This  is  my  commandment,  that, 
etc.  Comp.  ch.  13  :  34,  note.  Christ  reiterates 
the  commandment  which  he  has  before  given, 
and  points  to  his  own  life  as  the  true  interpreter 
of  that  commandment,  in  order  that  he  may 
guard  them  and  us  against  that  Pharisaic  obedi- 
ence of  external  rules  which  selfishness  and 
earthliness  are  continually  substituting  for  a  spir- 
itual obedience  to  the  one  interior  law  of  Chris- 
tian character,  self-sacrificing  love.  —  Greater 
love  hath  no  one  than  this,  that  one  lay 
down  his  life  for  his  friends.  Beware  of 
reading  this  as  though  laying  down  the  life  were 
equivalent  to  dying.  To  die  for  a  friend  is  not 
the  greatest  manifestation  of  love;  to  live  for 
him,  by  consecrating  the  whole  life  to  him,  is 
far  greater.  See  ch.  10  :  11,  17,  notes.  As 
Christ  consecrates  not  only  his  earthly  life,  but, 
in  his  intercession  with  us  and  for  us,  his  eternal 
life,  to  his  friends,  so,  if  we  are  his  friends,  we 
shall  lay  down  our  lives  for  him,  not  necessarily 
by  dying  for  him,  but  by  doing  whatsoever  he 
commands  us,  that  is,  by  living  for  him.  Thus 
Christ  points  out  at  once  both  the  perfection  of 
his  love  for  his  disciples  and  the  perfection  of 
that  love  which  he  desires  from  his  disciples. 
He  does  not  here  say,  however,  that  to  lay  down 
one's  life  for  one's  friends  is  the  highest  mani- 
festation of  love ;  still  higher  is  that  manifesta- 
tion made  by  laying  down  the  life  for  enemies. 

(Rom.  5  :  8;  1  John  4:  10.) 

15.  Henceforth  I  call  you  not  servants; 
for  the  servant  knoweth  not  what  his  lord 
doeth ;  but  I  have  called  you  friends ;  for 
all  things  that  I  have  heard  of  my  Father 
I  have  made  known  unto  yon.  There  is  a 
verbal  but  not  a  spiritual  inconsistency  between 
the  language  here  and  that  of  ver.  20.  The  ser- 
vice which  Christ  expects  of  his  disciples  is  that 
of  love.  His  declaration  here  explains  his  pre- 
vious language,  which  is  that  of  authority.    He 


190 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XV. 


and  ordained '  you,  that  ye  should  go  and  bring  forth 
fruit,  and  that  your  fruit  should  remain :  that  whatso- 
ever' ye  shall  ask  of  the  Father  in  my  name,  he  may 
give  it  you. 


17  These  things"  I  command  you,  that  ye  love  one 
another. 

18  If  the  world'  hate  you,  ye  know  that  it  hated  me 
before  it  hated  you. 


e  Ephes.  2  :  10  ....  t  verse  1;  ch.  14  :  13 ....  u  verse  12 ....  v  1  John  3  :  13. 


has  said,  "I  am  your  Lord  and  Master  "  (ch.  is :  13), 
and  has  reiterated  again  and  again  that  the  con- 
dition of  their  spiritual  life  is  obedience  to  his 
commandments  (cb.  u  :  15, 23;  15 :  10).  He  now  ex- 
plains the  sense  in  which  he  is  a  lawgiver.  He 
does  not  issue  an  imperial  ukase  and  demand  of 
his  disciples  a  blind  and  unquestioning  obedi- 
ence ;  he  speaks  as  a  divine  friend,  interpreting 
to  his  disciples  those  laws  of  the  spiritual  life 
which  he  has  himself  learned  in  the  indwelling 
of  the  Father. 

16.  Ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but  I  have 
chosen  you  and  ordained  you.  Primarily 
the  reference  is  to  the  choice  of  the  twelve  from 
among  the  disciples  of  Christ  to  be  witnesses 

and   apostles    (Luke  6  :  13  ;    John  6  :  70  ;   Acts  9  :  Is)  ;   and 

this  choice  did  not  prevent  one  of  them  from 
becoming  an  apostate.  It  is  Christ  who  chooses 
for  each  one  of  us  his  place  and  work  in  life. 
That  this  is  the  primary  meaning  is  evident,  not 
only  from  the  parallel  language  employed  in  the 
passages  above  cited,  but  also  from  the  second 
clause  of  the  verse  here.  The  word  rendered 
ordained  is  literally  placed  ;  and  that  is  the  mean- 
ing in  this  passage :  I  have  chosen  you  and  ap- 
pointed you  your  place  in  life.  So  in  Acts  13  : 
47 ;  20  :  38  ;  1  Tim.  2  :  12.  But  it  is  also  clear 
from  the  language  of  ver.  19,  /  hai'e  chosen  you 
out  of  the  world,  that  Christ  refers  not  merely  to 
a  choice  of  the  twelve  from  among  the  whole 
discipleship  for  a  particular  work,  but  also  to  a 
choice  of  them  from  the  world  to  be  followers 
of  him.  And  as  an  historic  fact,  so  far  as  we 
know  the  history  of  the  twelve,  each  one  was 
first  called  by  Christ.  See  for  example  Matt. 
9:9;  Mark  1  :  16-20 ;  John  1  :  43.  The  vine 
precedes  the  branches ;  the  first  life  flows  from 
the  vine  into  the  branches  ;  the  first  choice  is  the 
choice  of  the  dead  soul  by  the  living  Christ,  not 
the  choice  of  the  living  Christ  by  the  dead  soul. 
We  love  him  because  he  first  loves  us  (i  John  4 :  lo, 
19 ;  Ephes.  2 :  4, 5),  and  choosc  him  because  he  first 
chooses  us.  And,  however  difficult  it  may  be 
for  us  to  reconcile  this  truth  with  our  a  priori 
conceptions  of  divine  impartiality,  rightly  held 
it  is  an  inspiration  to  Christian  activity  and  a 
source  of  Christian  humility.  "  Even  when  this 
doctrine  of  election  has  taken  a  narrow  form — 
even  when  it  has  been  recognized  chiefly  as  ex- 
clusive— it  has  had  a  mighty  power  over  the 
hearts  of  men.  They  have  given  themselves  up, 
as  they  never  could  do  when  they  thought  they 
had  selected  their  own  destiny,  or  were  going  on 


errands  of  their  own.  But  when  it  takes  the 
form  it  has  here  *  *  *  there  cannot  be  any 
principle  which  is  at  once  so  humbling  and  sa 
elevating,  which  so  takes  away  all  notion  from, 
the  disciple  that  there  is  any  worth  in  his  own 
deeds  or  words,  which  gives  him  so  confident  an 
assurance  that  God's  word,  spoken  through  him 
or  through  any  man,  will  not  return  to  Him 
void." — (Maurice.) — That  you  should  go  and 
bring  forth  fruit,  and  that  your  fruit 
should  remain.  They  were  chosen  that  they 
should  go  forth  as  apostles,  everywhere  carrying 
the  gospel  of  reconciliation,  and  bringing  back 
to  their  Master  the  fruits,  in  sinners  converted 
and  saints  edified.  So  every  Christian  is  chosen 
that  he  may  go  forth  out  of  himself,  out  of  a  life 
of  mere  personal  enjoyment  of  religion,  and 
bring  forth  fruit  that  shall  abide  in  other  lives 
after  his  life  comes  to  its  close.  And  he  is 
bound  to  take  heed  that  both  in  his  life  (2  John, 
ver.  8),  and  in  other  lives  (Rev.  u :  13),  there  is  fruit 
that  abides  unto  life  eternal. — That  whatso- 
ever ye  shall  ask  of  the  Father  in  my 
name,  he  may  give  it  you.  Both  clauses  of 
the  verse  are  dependent  on  the  general  declara- 
tion, "I  have  chosen  you."  For  analogous  con- 
struction, see  ch.  13  :  34.  Christ  chooses  his- 
disciples  that  they  may  go  out  into  the  world 
and  bring  forth  much  fruit,  and  also  that  they 
may  ask  of  the  Father  in  his  name  what  they 
need ;  that  is,  both  for  a  life  of  Christian  activity 
and  of  Christian  devotion.  And  the  one  is  neces- 
sary to  the  other.  The  Christian  brings  forth 
much  fruit  only  as  he  has  power  in  prayer,  the 
power  of  a  faith  that  God  is  able  to  do  much  in 
and  through  him  (phii.  4  :  13) ;  and  he  has  power 
in  prayer  only  as  he  brings  forth  much  fruit  (ch. 
9  :  31 ;  14  :  t).  Besscr  uotcs  au  evidence  of  empha- 
sis which  Christ  lays  upon  prayer  in  the  fact  that 
prayer  in  the  name  of  Jesus  is  urged  in  all  three 
chapters  of  this  farewell  discourse. 

17.  These  things  I  command  you  that 
ye  love  one  another.  T/iese  things  are  all 
the  precepts  which  have  preceded  from  the  be- 
ginning of  this  interview,  ch.  13  :  12.  The  whole 
object  of  Christ's  precepts  is  to  produce  a  loving 
spirit  and  a  loving  life  in  his  followers.  See 
Matt.  22  :  37-40 ;  Kom.  13  :  8-10 ;  Gal.  .5  :  14 ; 
1  Tim.  1  :  5. 

18-21.  From  this  point  to  the  end  of  the 
chapter  Christ  passes  to  speak  of  the  relation  of 
the  disciples  to  the  world,  and  continuing  the 
theme  in  the  next  chapter,  points  out  (ch.  16 : 1-4) 


Ch.  XV.] 


JOHJ!i. 


191 


19  If  ye  were  of  the  world,  the  world  would  love  his 
own:  but  because  ye  are  not  of  the  world,  but  1  have 
chosen  you  out  ot  the  world,  therefore"  the  world 
hateth  you. 

20  Remember  ^  the  word  that  I  said  unto  you.  The 
servant  is  not  greater  than  his  lord.    If  they  have  per- 


secuted me,  they  will  also  persecute  you ;  if  they  y  have 

kept  my  saying,  they  will  keep  yours  also. 

21  Hut  all''  these  things  will  they  do  unto  you  for 
my  name's  sake,  because  they  know  not  him  that 
sent  me. 

22  If  I  *  had  not  come  and  spoken  unto  them,  they 


:  ch.  13  :  16;  Matt.  10  :  24  ;   Luke  6  :  40 y  Eiek.  3:7 z  ch.  16  :  3  ;  Malt,  10  :  22  ;  24  :  9 a  ch.  9  :  41. 


the  particular  manifestation  of  the  world's  en- 
mity which  the  disciples  may  expect. — If  the 
world  hates  you,  know  that  it  hated  me 
before  you.  Tlie  world,  in  John's  use  of  the 
term,  signifies  the  unspiritaal  portion  of  man- 
kind, those  who  have  not  been  taken  out  of  an 
animal  and  sensual  condition  by  being  bom 
from  above.  See  for  illustration  of  his  meaning 
ch.  1  :  10,  29  ;  3  :  10  ;  4  :  42  ;  13  :  31,  etc.  Many 
in  the  visible  church  may  be  of  the  world  ;  some 
without  the  visible  church  may  not  be  of  the 
world.  It  was  the  church  which  most  bitterly 
hated  Christ ;  the  publicans  and  sinners  were 
drawn  to  him,  and  their  enthusiasm  for  him  was 
his  protection  against  the  machinations  of  the 
hierarchy  (Mark  12 :  12 ;  Luke  20 :  19 ;  22 : 2).  Christ  does 
not  assert  that  the  world  will  necessarily  hate  the 
disciples.  The  disciple's  life  may  be  so  ordered 
of  God  that  it  is  never  brought  into  direct 
collision  -with  the  self-interest,  the  pride,  and  the 
ambition  of  the  world.  But  if  the  collision  does 
arise,  and  the  disciple  suffers  the  world's  en- 
mity, he  is  to  be  strengthened  and  comforted  by 
the  reflection  that  that  has  befallen  him  which 
previously  befel  his  Master.  Comp.  ch.  7  :  7, 
where  Christ  declares  that  the  world  cannot  hate 
those  that  act  in  accordance  with  worldly  poli- 
cies and  principles,  and  1  Pet.  4  :  12,  13  ;  1  John 

3  :  13,  14 ;  4  :  4,  5,  where  the  apostles  employ  the 
same  consideration  employed  by  Christ  here, 
and  for  the  same  purpose.  It  is  better  to  take 
know  as  an  imperative  than  as  an  indicative,  as 
an  exhortation  than  as  a  mere  statement  of  a 
fact.  It  is  thus  analogous  to  remember  in  ver. 
20. — If  ye  Avere  of  the  Avorld  *  *  *  be- 
cause ye  are  not  of  the  world.  The  Chris- 
tian is  in  but  not  of  the  world,  because  he  is 
bom  from  above  (John  3  :  3),  and  so  is  made  a 
member  of  a  kingdom  which,  like  its  king,  is  not 
of  this  world  (ch.  s :  23;  18  :  36). — Therefore  the 
world  hateth  you.  Not  merely  because  the 
disciple  is  chosen  by  Christ,  but  because  he  is 
chosen  out  of  the  world,  and  by  his  life  of  non- 
conformity bears  a  perpetual  testimony  against 
the  world.  This  enmity  is  illustrated  bj'  the 
case  of  Daniel  (Dan.  6 :  1-5),  Peter  and  John  (Acts 

4  :  21),  and  Christ  himself  (John  11  :  49,  so).  It  is 
aroused  whenever  Christian  principle  comes  into 
collision  with  worldly  interests. — Be  mindful 
of  the  Avord  which  I  said  unto  you.  Bear 
it  in  mind  as  a  talisman  in  time  of  persecution. 
See  marg.  ref .    This  truth,  employed  here  and  in 


Matt.  10 ;  24  for  encouragement,  is  assigned  in  ch. 
13  :  IG  as  a  reason  for  humility. — If  they  have 
kept  my  saying  they  will  keep  yours  also. 

This  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  ironical,  as  ren- 
dered by  Grotius,  nor  is  the  word  keep  to  be  ren- 
dered watch  with  a  hostile  intent,  a  forced  mean- 
ing given  to  it  by  Bengel,  nor  is  the  language 
merely  general  and  hypothetical,  which  is  ap- 
parently Meyer's  interpretation.  Some  wUl 
persecute,  others  will  accept  and  carefully  keep, 
the  gospel.  The  disciple  must  anticipate  both 
results,  persecution  and  glad  reception.  So  it 
was  in  Paul's  experience  (Acts  13 :  42, 45, 48,  so ;  14 : 4 ;  n : 
4, 5,  etc.).  The  most  popular  preachers  are  also  the 
most  reviled  and  persecuted,  from  the  days  of 
Christ  down  through  those  of  Luther  and  White- 
field,  to  the  present  day. — They  will  do  unto 
you  for  my  name's  sake.  As  the  name  of 
Christ  inspires  the  Christian  with  peculiar  cour- 
age and  devotion,  so  it  incites  in  his  enemies 
peculiar  hostility.  The  fact  that  this  hostility  is 
directed  against  Christ,  and  that  in  enduring  it 
the  disciples  are  suffering  for  Christ  and  in  his 
stead,  gives  them  peculiar  strength  and  joy  in 

their  sufferings  (Acts  5  :  41;  21  :  13;  Rom.  5:3;  2  Cor. 
11  :  23 ;    12  :  10,  11 ;   Phil.  2:17,18;   Gal.  6  :  14 ;    1  Pet.  4  :  12,  is). 

Thus  the  declaration  here  interprets  the  promise 
of  Matt.  5  :  11,  12. — Because  they  know  not 
him  that  sent  me.    See  ver.  23 ;  ch.  8  :  42. 

22-25.  If  I  had  not  come  *  *  *  they 
had  not  known  sin.  The  meaning  is  not, 
They  would  not  have  had  the  sin  of  hating  me 
without  a  cause ;  there  is  no  definite  article 
attached  to  the  word  sin;  the  declaration  is 
general,  as  it  is  rendered  by  our  English  version. 
Moreover,  to  say  that  men  would  not  have  been 
guilty  of  the  sin  of  hating  Christ  if  Christ  had 
never  come  to  their  knowledge  is  to  utter  the 
merest  truism.  This,  though  it  is  the  common 
interpretation,  and  is  adopted,  though  not  de- 
fended, by  such  scholars  as  Meyer  and  Alford, 
seems  to  me  utterly  untenable.  Nor  is  the 
meaning,  They  would  not  have  had  so  great  sin ; 
Christ  often  uses  metaphor,  hut  he  never  exagger- 
ates. By  his  death  the  Lamb  of  God  has  taken 
away,  not  some  sins  from  the  world,  but  th£  sin 
of  the  tvorld.  See  ch.  1  :  29,  note.  Hence  the  only 
sin  for  which  men  are  condemned  is  that  of  de- 
liberately rejecting  the  offer  of  free  forgiveness 
and  a  new  life  through  Jesus  Christ  (ch.  s  :  is,  19, 
notes),  other  sins  are  not  reckoned  against  them 
(Acts  17 :  30;  Rom.  3 :  25).    They  are  judged  by  Christ, 


192 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XV. 


had  not  had  sin:   but""  now  they  have  no  cloke  for 
their  sin. 

23  He  that  hateth  me  hateth  my  Father  also. 

24  If  I  had  not  done  among  them  the  works  "=  which 
none  other  man  did,  they  had  not  had  sin :  but  now 
have  they  both  seen  and  hated  both  me  and  my  Fa- 
ther. 

25  But  this  covieth  to  pass,  that  the  word  might  be 


fulfilled  that  is  written  in  their  law,  They  hated  *  me 
without  a  cause. 

26  Hut  when  the  Comforter"^  is  come,  whom  I  will 
send  unto  you  from  the  Father,  even  the  Spirit  of 
truth,  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  he'  shall 
testify  of  me: 

27  And  yes  also  shall  bear  witness,  because  ye"" 
have  been  with  me  from  the  beginning. 


b  James  4:  17....cth.  7  ;31....dPa.  35  :  19  ; 


i5:  6....gLuke24:48;  Ada  2:32;  4:  20,33;  2  Pet.  1  :  16... 


because  they  are  judged  worthy  of  life  if  they 
accept  his  free  offer  of  it,  and  unworthy  of  life 
if  they  put  it  away  when  it  is  offered  to  them 
(Acts  13 :  46).  Hencc  thosc  to  whom  Christ  has 
been  offered  are  not  condemned  because  of  their 
past  sins,  which  are  freely  forgiven ;  they  are 
measured  by  their  acceptance  or  rejection  of 
Him.  "  No  man  shall  die  in  his  sins,  except  him 
who  through  unbelief  thrusts  from  him  the  for- 
giveness of  sin,  which  in  the  name  of  Jesus  is 
offered  to  him.  This  is  the  real  sin  which  con- 
tains all  others.  For  if  the  word  of  Christ  was 
received  every  sin  would  be  forgiven  and  remit- 
ted ;  but  since  men  will  not  receive  it,  this  con- 
fititutes  a  sin  which  is  not  to  be  forgiven." — 
{Luther.) — But  now  they  have  no  cloak  for 
their  sin.  No  cover  or  excuse.  Ignorance  is 
an  excuse  ;  but  when  the  offer  of  pardon  and  a 
new  life  is  refused,  the  sin  is  shown  to  be  delib- 
erately chosen.  Every  man  naturally  seeks  an 
.excuse  for  his  sin  (oen.  3  :  12,  13).  Christ  takes 
away  eveiy  excuse  and  leaves  the  sinner,  at  the 
judgment  day,  to  the  sentence  of  condemnation. 
"I  would  *  *  *  but  ye  would  not"  (Matt. 
23 :  37). — He  that  hateth  me  hateth  my  Fa- 
ther also.  Because  Christ  is  the  manifestation 
of  the  Father,  therefore  anti-Christ  is  anti-God. 
See  ch.  8  :  43. — If  I  had  not  done  among 
them  works  which  none  other  did.  Not 
merely  miracles ;  the  whole  life-work  of  benefi- 
cent activity  is  that  which  attested  to  the  Jews 
Christ's  character ;  and  the  whole  work  of  be- 
neficent activity  wrought  by  him  in  the  church 
universal  is  the  ever-living  testimony  to  the  divine 
nature  and  authority  of  Christianity.  The  evi- 
dence of  a  divine  redemption  through  Jesus 
Christ  is  cumulative ;  and  the  sin  of  hating 
Christ,  as  embodied  in  Christian  principles, 
truths,  and  lives,  is  consequently  continually  en- 
hanced.— They  have  both  seen  and  hated 
both  me  and  my  Father.  This  was  literally 
true  in  respect  to  the  hierarchy  at  Jerusalem, 
who  even  as  these  words  were  spoken  were  plot- 
ting with  Judas  for  the  arrest  and  execution  of 
■Christ.  They  determined  to  slay  him,  because 
in  no  other  way  could  they  countervail  his  won- 
derful works  (ch.  11  :  47-60). — They  hated  me 
Avithout  a  cause.  See  marg.  ref.  The  lan- 
guage was  employed  by  the  original  author — 
whether  David  or  not  is  not  quite  certain — not 


with  any  distinct  understanding  of  its  prophetic 
significance.  It  is  here  applied  by  Christ  to 
himself,  not  by  an  accommodation,  but  because 
all  godly  suffering  in  the  O.  T.  was  itself  a  type 
of  the  great  sacrifice  for  God  and  man  consum- 
mated by  the  cross  of  Christ,  as  all  suffering  in 
the  Christian  church  fills  up  what  is  lacking  of 
that  sacrifice  to  perfect  the  world's  redemption 
(coi.  1  :  24).  "  These  (verses  21-25)  are  perhaps  the 
most  terrible  words  in  the  O.  T.  or  the  N.  T. 
No  descriptions  of  divine  punishment  which  are 
written  anywhere  can  come  the  least  into  com- 
parison with  them  for  awfulness  and  horror. 
This  gratuitous  hatred,  this  hatred  of  Christ  by 
men  because  they  hate  God,  this  hatred  of  God 
because  he  has  manifested  and  proved  himself 
to  be  love,  is  something  which  passes  all  our 
conception,  and  yet  which  would  not  mean  any- 
thing to  us  if  our  conscience  did  not  bear  wit- 
ness that  the  possibility  of  it  lies  in  ourselves. 
Do  not  let  us  put  away  that  thought,  brethren, 
or  the  one  which  is  closely  akin  to  it,  that  such 
hatred  is  only  possible  in  a  nation  which,  like 
the  Jewish,  is  full  of  religious  knowledge  and  of 
rehgious  profession. ' ' — {3Taurice. ) 

2G,  27.  But  when  the  Comforter  is  come 
Avhom  I  will  send  unto  you  from  the  pres- 
ence of  (rtuQci)  the  Father  (ch,  u:  le),  even  the 
Spirit  of  truth  (ch.  u:  n,  note),  which  proceed- 
eth from  the  presence  (tiuqu)  of  the  Father. 
On  the  meannig  of  the  particle  here  rendered 
from,  see  ch.  5  :  .3i,  note.  These  two  clauses 
are  not  repetitions ;  the  one  defines  the  other. 
The  Comforter  whom  Jesus  sent  at  the  day  of 
Pentecost  to  the  church  is  that  Sijirit  of  truth 
who  ever  proceeds  from  the  Father.  Christ 
attributes  all  blessed  redemptive  influences  in 
the  last  instance  to  his  Father ;  as  he  is  him- 
self from  the  Father,  so  the  Spirit  is  from  the 

Father   (ch.  7  :  29;    8  ;  26,   38;   10  :  18 ;    Gal.  4  :  6),    and   iS 

sometimes  called  his  (Christ's)  Spirit  (Rom.  8:9; 

Gal.  4:6;    Phil.  1  :  19  ;    1  Pet.  1  :  ll).      To   trace  OUt  from 

this  verse  the  eternal  relations  between  the  Fa- 
ther, Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  is  to  import  into  this 
spiritual  converse  the  unspiritual  metaphysics  of 
the  scholastic  period  of  theology. — He  shall 
testify  of  me  (ch.  le :  13-15).  And  ye  also  shall 
bear  witness,  because  ye  have  been  with 
me  from  the  beginning  (Lukei ;  2;  Acts  1 :  22).  A 
double  testimony  to  the  truth  of  Christianity, 


Ch.  XVL] 


JOHN. 


193 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THESE  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you,  that  ye 
should  not  be  offended. 
2  They  shall  put  you  out  of  the  synagogues:  yea, 
the  time  cometh,  that  whosoever'  killeth    you  will 
think  that  he  doeth  God  service. 


3  And  these  J  things  will  they  do  unto  you,  because 
they  ''  have  not  known  the  Father,  nor  me. 

4  But  lliese  things  have  I  told  you,  that  when  the 
time  shall  come,  ye  may  remember  that  I  told  you 
ot  tliem.  And  tliese  things  1  said  not  unto  you  at  the 
beginning,  because  1  was  with  you. 


i  A^i  26  :  9-11 j  ch.  16  :  21 . . . .  k  1  Cor.  2  :  8  j  1  Tim.  1  :  13. 


the  spiritual  aud  the  historical.  After  Christ's 
death  and  resurrection  the  Spirit  made  clear  to 
the  apostles  the  meaning  of  the  enigma,  inter- 
preted the  prophets  to  them,  and  opened  unto 
them  the  true  nature  of  Christ's  spiritual  king- 
dom, that  they  might  testify  unto  others  (Acts 

1  :  8  ;    1  Cor.  2  :  9,  10  ;   comp.  Matt.  10  :  20  ;    Mark  13  :  ll).      The 

apostles  also  testified  to  the  facts  which  they 
had  themselves  witnessed  in  the  life,  death,  and 
resurrection  of  Christ,  as  evidences  of  his  Mes- 
«iahship  (Acts  i :  22 ;  3 :  is).  But,  secondarily,  every 
Christian  is  a  witness  of  Christ  by  his  own  life 
and  conversation,  testifying  things  which  in  his 
own  experience  he  has  both  seen  and  heard  ;  and 
the  Spirit  of  truth  bears  witness  both  in  him  and 
through  him  to  the  power  of  God  in  a  devout 

life  (Rom.  8  :  16 ;  9:1;  1  Cor.  12  :  8-11 ;  1  Pet.  1:11;  1  John 
3  :  24).  

Ch.  16  :  1-33.  CLOSE  OF  CHRIST'S  DISCOURSE.— 
The  presence,  office,  and  work  op  the  Holt 
Spirit  more  FuiiLT  described. 

1,  2.  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto 
you  that  ye  should  not  be  offended.  Scan- 
dalized ;  caused  to  fall  into  sin.  See  Matt.  5  :  29, 
note  ;  15  :  12  ;  17  :  27 ;  John  6  :  61 ;  1  Cor.  8  :  13. 
The  object  of  Christ's  teaching  in  these  chapters 
is  not  merely  to  impart  consolation  to  the  apos- 
tles in  their  impending  sorrow  in  his  death,  but 
to  impart  strength  to  his  disciples  throughout 
all  time  in  their  experience  of  temptation. — 
They  shall  put  you  out  of  the  synagogues. 
Excommunicate  you.  This  was  not  in  that  age 
a  mere  ecclesiastical  censure ;  it  involved  the 
most  serious  consequences,  in  exclusion  from  all 
business  and  secular  relations  with  men.  See  ch. 
9  :  22,  note. — Yea,  the  hour  cometh  that 
whosoever  killeth  you  Avill  think  that  lie 
is  offering  a  sacrifice  to  God.  Illustrated 
by  Saul  of  Tarsus  (see  Acts  25 : 9),  and  by  the  pro- 
Terb  found  in  the  Rabbinical  books,  "  Whoever 
sheds  the  blood  of  the  impious  does  the  same  as 
if  he  had  offered  a  sacrifice  ;"  not  less  illus- 
trated by  the  history  of  religious  persecutions, 
in  which  the  persecutor  has  very  generally  be- 
lieved that  by  slaying  the  heretic  he  was  appeas- 
ing God's  wrath  against  the  community  and  the 
church.  Such  an  experience,  if  it  came  without 
forewarning,  would  endanger  their  faith.  "It 
would  be  a  strange  result ;  fellowship  with  their 
brethren  destroyed  because  they  proclaimed  the 


ground  of  fellowship ;  death  inflicted  upon  them 
because  they  preached  that  death  was  overcome. 
Might  not  poor  Galileans,  conscious  of  folly  and 
sin,  often  say  to  themselves :  '  We  must  be 
wrong ;  the  rulers  of  the  land  must  be  wiser 
than  we  are.  Ought  we  to  turn  the  world  up- 
side down  for  an  opinion  of  ours  ? '  " — {Maurice.) 
This  is  always  a  temptation  in  times  when  Chris- 
tian principle  seems  counter  to  public  sentiment, 
a  temptation  not  merely  to  abandon  Christian 
principle  in  order  to  conform  to  public  senti- 
ment, but  to  think  the  principle  which  com- 
mends itself  to  so  few  and  arouses  the  hostility 
of  so  many  cannot  be  sound.  [The  Greek  stu- 
dent will  find  in  Alford's  and  Meyer's  interpre- 
tation of  '('i«,  that,  a  curious  illustration  of  the 
straits  to  which  the  commentator  is  put  who 
insists  on  giving  it  always  its  accurate  (telic), 
never  its  more  popular  (ecbatic)  signification. 
They  are  compelled,  in  order  to  be  consistent, 
to  read  this  declaration,  The  hour  cometh  in  order 
that  whosoever,  etc.,  that  is,  that  which  shall  hap- 
pen in  the  hour  is  regarded  as  the  object  of  its 
coming ;  it  is  ordained  for  that  purpose.] 

3,  4.  And  these  things  will  they  do  unto 
you  because  they  have  not  known  the 
Father  nor  me.  The  root  of  all  religious 
intolerance  is  a  narrow,  false,  pagan  conception 
of  God.  Intolerance  is  impossible  in  a  heart 
which  rightly  appreciates  God  as  manifested  in 
Christ  Jesus,  and  sincerely  seeks  to  please  him 
by  imbibing  his  Spirit  and  imitating  his  example 
and  method.  On  the  other  hand,  a  conscience 
uninstructcd  by  a  measurably  correct  conception 
of  God  becomes  itself  an  instigator  of  the  most 
remorseless  cruelty.  The  cause  of  the  wrong  is 
in  not  receiving  as  a  little  chUd  the  teaching  of 
Christ,  and  even  of  nature  (Matt,  s :  45),  respecting 
the  comprehensiveness  of  the  Divine  love.  All 
intolerance  is  rooted  in  self-worship,  making  a 
god  of  our  own  self-will. — But  these  things 
have  I  told  you  that  when  the  hour  has 
come  ye  may  call  to  mind  these  things, 
that  I  have  told  you  them.  But  these 
things  I  have  not  told  you  from  the  be- 
ginning, because  I  was  with  you.  What 
are  these  things  ?  Most  commentators  understand 
Christ  to  refer  to  his  prophecies  in  verses  2  and 
3,  and  they  understand  his  meaning  to  be,  I  have 
forewarned  you  of  those  jiersecutioiis,  that  when 
they  come  upon  you  you  may  remember  that  I  did 


194 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XVI. 


5  But  now  I  go  my  way  to  him  that  sent  me ;  and 
none  of  you  asketh  me,  Wnither  goest  thou  ? 

6  But  because  I  have  said  these  things  unto  you, 
sorrow '  hath  filled  your  heart. 


7  Nevertheless  I  tell  you  the  truth ;  It  is  expedient 
for  you  that  I  go  away  :  for  if  1  go  not  away,  the  Com- 
forter will  not  come  unto  you ;  but  if  I  depart,  I  will 
send  him  unto  you. 


forewarn  you  of  them.  But  this  interpretation  is 
not  consistent  with  the  added  words,  Tltese 
things  I  have  not  told  you  from  the  beginning ; 
for  the  prophecies  of  future  perils  which  threat- 
ened them  are  quite  as  clear  in  Matt,  10  :  17-22, 
28 ;  Mark  13  :  9-13 ;  Luke  21  :  12-17,  as  they 
.are  here.  Meyer  and  Godet  even  suppose  that 
Matthew  has  inserted  the  warnings  in  his  Gos- 
pel (ch.  lo)  out  of  their  place,  taking  them  from 
Christ's  discourse  here ;  and  the  explanations 
given  by  other  commentators,  if  they  violate  the 
text  less,  violate  its  meaning  more.  Luthardt 
gives  them  aU  briefly.  Tliese  things,  I  think,  are 
not  merely  the  prophecy  of  the  persecutions 
which  are  to  fall  upon  the  disciples ;  they  are 
the  whole  comforting  and  inspiring  instructions 
of  this  discourse  respecting  the  person,  advent, 
presence,  and  indwelling  grace  and  power  of  the 
Spirit  of  Truth  and  Holiness.  The  phrase  is 
used  here  as  in  ch.  14  :  25 ;  15  :  11,  17 ;  16  :  1,  6, 
Combining  these  verses,  we  get  Christ's  object 
in  this  whole  instruction  in  the  truth  of  the  Di- 
vine Immanence,  namely,  that  the  disciples  may 
be  prepared  for  the  progressive  teaching  of  the 
Spirit  of  Truth ;  that  their  Master's  joy  in  the 
Holy  Spirit  may  be  theirs,  and  so  their  joy  may 
be  full ;  that  their  lives  may  abound  in  the  fruits 
of  a  love  that  is  nourished  only  by  the  indwelUng 
of  the  Spirit ;  that  in  trial  and  persecution  they 
may  not  be  offended  and  induced  to  abandon 
faith  in  him  as  their  Master  ;  and  he  urges  them 
when  this  trial  hour  comes  upon  them  to  recall 
to  mind  this  teaching  respecting  the  indwelling 
and  ever-abiding  Comforter,  teaching  not  given 
before  except  in  hints  and  suggestions,  rudi- 
mentary and  fragmentary,  because  while  he  was 
yet  with  them  in  the  flesh  they  could  and  nota- 
bly did  depend  upon  him. 

5,6.  But  now  I  go  away,  ^ot  my  way; 
the  idea  of  departure  simply  is  conveyed  by  the 
original. — And  no  one  of  you  asketh  me, 
Whither  goest  thou  ?  but  because  I  have 
said  these  things  unto  you  sorrow  hath 
filled  your  heart.  The  first  clause  is  not  lit- 
erally true.  Peter  directly,  Thomas  indirectly, 
had  asked,  Whither  goest  thou  ?  (ch.  is :  36;  i4 :  s). 
It  is  to  be  interpreted  by  the  latter  clause.  The 
meaning  is.  Instead  of  turning  your  thoughts 
towards  me  and  my  future  glory,  and  asking 
after  my  Father  and  my  home,  which  you  would 
do  with  rejoicing  if  you  loved  me  supremely 
(ch.  u :  28),  your  thoughts  are  on  your  own  loneli- 
ness in  the  future  when  I  shall  have  left  you, 


and  because  of  it  sorrow  has  completely  filled 
your  heart,  that  is,  to  the  exclusion  of  every 
other  thought.  My  words  should  bring  you 
comfort;  they  bring  you  pain.  There  is  a  pa- 
thetic reproach  in  Christ's  language,  easily  com- 
prehended by  every  pastor  who  has  attempted 
to  point  sorrowing  souls  to  the  invisible  world, 
only  to  see  their  grief  burst  out  afresh  at  the 
awakened  recollection  of  the  earthly  loss.  No- 
tice, your  heart,  not  hearts ;  the  singular  is  used,. 
as  in  Rom.  1  :  21,  because  they  are  so  thoroughly 
a  unit  in  their  common  feeling  of  sorrow.  Stier 
notices  the  contrast  between  the  experience  of 
these  same  disciples  now  and  at  the  subsequent- 
parting  at  the  ascension :  "  These  are  the  same  dis- 
ciples who  afterwards,  when  their  risen  Lord  had 
ascended  to  heaven,  without  any  pang  at  parting- 
with  him,  returned  with  great  joy  to  Jerusalem 
(Luie  24 :  52)."  A  practical  lesson  to  every  mourner 
here,  as  in  ch.  14  :  28,  is  that  he  should  not  allow 
a  selfish  sorrow  to  fill  his  heart  so  completely 
that  he  cannot  follow  in  his  thoughts  the  loved 
one  to  his  heavenly  home. 

7.  Nevertheless  I  tell  you  the  truth ;  it 
is  for  your  benefit  that  I  am  going  away. 
The  original  is  stronger  than  our  English  ver- 
sion ;  the  impUcation  is  plainly,  as  Alford  gives 
it,  "  that  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  is  a  more 
blessed  manifestation  of  God  than  was  even  the 
bodily  presence  of  the  risen  Saviour,"  and  the 
reasons  why  it  is  so  are  intimated  in  previous 
parts  of  this  discourse.  See  especially  ch.  14  : 
16,  17,  notes. — For  if  I  go  not  away  the 
Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you.  He 
does  not  say  will  not  come,  but  will  not  come 
unto  you.  Hitherto  the  Spirit  had  been  given 
only  to  men  especially  fitted  by  their  spiritual 
nature  to  receive  its  teachings  and  to  become  in 
turn  teachers  to  others.  After  the  death  and 
resurrection  of  Christ  the  Spirit  was  given  to  the 
church  universal,  to  all  believers.  See  Acts  2  : 8. 
The  language  therefore  does  not  prove,  accord- 
ing to  Alford,  that  "  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  at  and 
since  Pentecost  was  and  is  something  totally  dis- 
tinct from  anything  before  that  time."  The 
difference  consisted  in  its  universal  bestowal, 
whereas  before  it  was  limited  to  a  few.  Why 
could  not  the  Spirit  be  sent  until  Christ  had  first 
gone  away  ?  Because  it  is  impossible  for  men  to 
live  at  the  same  time  by  faith  and  by  sight.  So 
long  as  the  disciples  had  a  visible  manifestation 
of  God  with  them,  they  would  not  and  could  not 
turn  their  thoughts  inward  to  that  more  sacred 


€h.  XVI.] 


JOHN. 


195 


8  And  when  he  is  come,  he  will  reprove  the  world 
of  sin,  and  ol"  righteousness,  and  of  judgment : 

9  Ot  sin,™  because  they  believe  not  on  me  ; 


lo  Of  righteousness,"  because  I  go  to  my  Father, 
and  ye  see  me  no  more ; 


m  Rom.  3  :  SO ;  1  :  9  ....  n  Isa.  42  :  21  ;  Koui.  1  :  17. 


but  less  easily  recognized  manifestation  which 
could  not  be  seen,  and  therefore  could  be  known 
only  by  spiritual  apprehension. 

8.  Aud  coming,  that  one  shall  convince 
the  world  respecting  siu  and  respecting 
righteousness  and  respecting  judgment. 
In  this  and  the  three  succeeding  verses  Christ 
describes  briefly  the  office  and  work  of  tlie  Uoly 
Spirit.  As  the  advent  of  Christ  was  itself  a 
preparation  for  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit, 
and  as  in  his  departure  he  points  his  disciples  to 
the  indwelling  of  that  Spirit  as  the  source  of 
their  hope,  their  joy,  their  love,  their  entire 
spiritual  life,  these  verses,  in  which  he  points  out 
specifically  the  manner  in  which  the  Spirit  will 
develop  this  spiritual  life,  may  be  regarded  as 
the  heart  of  this  discourse.  To  attempt  to  give 
the  various  opinions  of  conflicting  commenta- 
tors on  this  passage  would  almost  inevitably 
entangle  the  mind  of  the  student  in  a  mesh 
of  contradictory  interpretations,  and  would  ob- 
scure rather  than  clarify  the  meaning.  I  have 
therefore,  with  Alford,  "  prefen-ed  giving  point- 
edly what  I  believe  to  be  the  sense  of  this  most 
important  passage,  to  stringing  together  a  multi- 
tude of  opinions  on  it,  seeing  that  of  even  the 
best  commentators  no  two  bring  out  exactly  the 
same  shade  of  meaning,  and  thus  classification 
is  next  to  impossible."  Much  depends  on  the 
right  reading  of  the  five  words  rendered  in  our 
EngUsh  version  reprove,  world,  sin,  righteous7iess, 
and  judgment,  and  I  believe  that  very  much  of 
the  difficulty  in  interpretation  has  grown  out  of 
imputing  to  these  words  a  theological  and  scho- 
lastic meaning  instead  of  taking  them  according 
to  their  most  simple  and  natural  meaning.  (1) 
The  word  reprove,  which  I  have  rendered  convince, 
properly  signifies  to  convince  one  of  truth  in 
such  a  way  as  to  convict  him  of  wrong-doing. 
It  is  rendered  tell  him  his  fault  (Matt,  is ;  is) ;  re- 
prove (Luke  3  :  19  ;  John  3  :  2o)  ;  COnvkt  ( John  8:9);  Con- 
vince  of    sin  (John  8  :  46  ;    1   Cor.  14  :  24)  ;    rchuke   (Titus 

2  :  15 ;  Rev.  3 :  19).  Here,  tbeuj  the  meaning  is  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  will  so  bring  to  the  world's  con- 
sciousness the  spiritual  truths  respecting  sin, 
righteousness,  and  judgment  that  the  world  will 
stand  self-convicted.  (2)  The  world  is  here,  as 
always  with  John,  the  great  mass  of  humanity, 
not  necessarily  excluding  believers,  but  in  con- 
trast with  the  distinctive  body  of  believers. 
This  world  cannot  receive  the  Spirit  of  Truth, 
for  it  seeth  him  not,  neither  knoweth  him  (ch. 
14  :  n).  Nevertheless  it  is  this  unseen  and  un- 
known Spirit  who  can  alone  convince  and  convict 


the  world.  The  disciples  "  are  to  despair  of  its 
ever  coming  from  them  ;  they  are  to  be  sure  it 
will  come  from  the  Spirit  with  which  He  will 
endue  them.  Not  they,  but  He,  will  convince  the 
world;  because,  though  the  world  may  not  re- 
ceive Him  neither  know  Him,  it  has  been  formed 
to  receive  all  quickening  life  from  Him  ;  it  must 
confess  His  presence,  even  if  it  would  hide  itself 
from  His  presence." — {Maurice.)  (3) /Sm  is  pri- 
marily a  miss  or  wandering,  but  in  the  N.  T. 
only  in  a  moral  sense,  that  is,  a  wandering  or 
turning  away  from  the  line  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness. It  is  the  first  office  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
show  the  world  how  this  turning  away  from 
righteousness  is  the  great  folly,  the  mistake  in 
comparison  with  which  all  other  mistakes  are  as 
nothing  (Prov.  i :  32 ;  8  :  36).  (4)  Righteousness  is  pri- 
marily rectitude,  uprightness,  perfectitude  of 
character.  John's  use  of  the  terra  is  indicated 
by  his  employment  of  it  in  1  John  2  :  29  ;  3  :  7, 10, 
"He  that  doeth  righteousness  is  righteous."  To 
understand  the  language  here  to  refer  to  any  doc- 
trine of  an  imputed  or  transferred  righteousness  is 
to  import  into  the  simple  language  of  the  Master 
theological  ideas  bom  of  scholasticism  and  be- 
longing to  a  later  date.  The  meaning  is  that  he 
who  convicts  the  world  of  having  departed  from 
righteousness  will  also  bring  to  the  world's  con- 
sciousness a  reaUzation  of  the  elements  of  true 
righteousness  of  character.  (5)  Judgment  is  pri- 
marily moral  discrimination,  whether  exercised 
by  God  or  man ;  its  use,  to  signify  a  tribunal, 
whether  human  (Matt.  5 :  21, 22)  or  divine,  as  in  the 
frequent  use  of  it  to  signify  the  day  of  judgment 

(Matt.  12  :  42  ;  Luke  10  :  14  ;  Heb.  9  :  27),  iS  SCCOUdarj'.    JollU 

always  uses  it  in  the  primary  sense  of  moral  and 
spiritual  discernment,  except  in  1  John  4  :  17, 
where  he  defines  his  meaning  by  employing  the 
phrase  day  of  judgment.  The  third  truth  of 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  will  convince  the  world 
will  be  the  true  divine  canons  of  moral  judg- 
ment. The  general  declaration,  then,  is  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  when  he  comes  will  convict  the 
world,  by  bringing  to  its  spiritual  consciousness 
the  truth  respecting  sin,  or  wandering  from 
God  and  his  law ;  righteousness,  or  the  divine 
ideal  of  character ;  and  judgment,  or  the  true 
principles  of  spiritual  discrimination. 

9-11.  Concerning  sin,  because  they  have 
not  had  faith  upon  me.  Because  indicates, 
not  the  reason  why  the  Spirit  shall  convince  of 
sin,  but  the  nature  and  evidence  of  the  sin  itself. 
It  may  be  rendered  hi  that.  The  meaning  is  not, 
The  Holy  Spirit  will  convince  of  sin  because  they 


196 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XVI. 


II  Of  judgment,"  becauseP  the  prince  of  this  world  1      12  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye<» 
is  judged.  cannot  bear  them  now. 

o  Acts  17  :  31 J  Rom.  2:2;  Rev.  20  :  12,  13 p  ch.  12  :  31 . . . .  q  Heb.  5  :  12. 


have  not  had  faith,  but,  That  they  have  sinned 
in  that  they  have  not  had  faith.  The  fact 
that  the  character  of  Christ  does  not  call  forth 
the  moral  and  spiritual  ailections  of  the  soul 
is  the  strongest  evidence  of  that  soul's  insen- 
sibility ;  and  the  fact  that  the  offer  of  free 
pardon  and  the  impartation  of  a  new  spiritual 
life  is  not  accepted,  demonstrates  that  continu- 
ance under  condemnation  and  in  sin  is  the  soul's 
free  choice.  Thus  the  sin  of  the  world  both  con- 
sists in  and  is  demonstrated  by  its  rejection  of 
Christ  (ch.  3 :  is-21) ;  not  by  any  intellectual  opinion 
entertained  respecting  him,  but  by  the  lack  of 
spiritual  appreciation  and  the  failure  to  give  to 
him  and  his  teaching  the  welcome  of  an  affec- 
tionate and  obedient  faith. — Concerning  right- 
eousness, because  I  go  away  to  my  Fatiier 
and  ye  see  me  no  more.  Christ  is  himself 
the  ideal  of  human  character,  the  divine  right- 
eousness interpreted  by  a  human  life.  But  this 
righteousness  was  not,  and  could  not  be,  com- 
prehended while  Christ  still  lived  in  the  flesh 
among  men.  The  eyes  of  men  were  fastened 
upon  the  apparent  ignominy  of  his  position  and 
circumstances,  and  the  divine  love  which  is  in- 
terpreted to  us  by  his  humiliation  was  to  his 
contemporaries  obscured  by  it.  It  was  neces- 
sary that  he  should  go  away  to  his  Father  before 
the  world  could  begin  to  appreciate  the  sacred 
meaning  of  a  life  which  was  so  wholly  laid  down 
for  others.  So,  habitually,  the  world  learns  the 
meaning  of  a  life  after  it  has  ended,  and  honors 
after  death  those  whom  it  has  despised  while 
living,  and  forgets  after  death  those  whom  it  has 
honored  while  living.  The  Holy  Spirit  convinces 
the  world  respecting  true  righteousness  of  char- 
acter, by  spiritually  interpreting  to  it,  through 
the  ages,  the  glory  of  one  who  could  only  be  un- 
derstood after  he  had  gone  away  to  the  Father 
and  the  world  saw  him  no  more.  To  appreciate 
his  righteousness  they  must  look  on  him  by  faith 
and  not  by  sight.  The  more  common  explana- 
tion (see  Oodet  and  Meyer)  that  he  who  was  put 
to  death  as  a  sinner  was  proved  to  be  righteous 
by  his  resurrection  and  ascension  is  inadmissible, 
because  Christ  here  says  nothing  of  his  resurrec- 
tion or  his  ascension  ;  he  uses  the  same  phrase- 
ology which  he  has  previously  employed  in  this 
discourse  in  speaking  of  his  death  (ch.  13 :  33, 36 ; 
14  :  28;  16 :  s) ;  and  bccausc  he  adds  emphasis  to 
the  truth  that  it  is  his  departure  from  them,  not 
his  visible  exaltation  or  ascension  to  which  he 
refers,  by  adding  to  the  words  "because  I  go  to 
my  Father"  the  explanatory  clause  "and  ye  see 
me  no  more." — Concerning  judgment,  be- 


cause the  prince  of  this  world  is  judged. 

Comp.  John  12  :  31.  In  the  histoiy  of  the  race, 
the  methods,  principles,  and  policies  of  the  world 
and  its  prince  are  being  perpetually  tried  and 
perpetually  proved  false  by  their  results.  Thus 
the  world  and  its  prince  are  ever  being  judged, 
and  humanity,  by  the  progressive  teaching  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  interpreting  the  book  of  God's  Prov- 
idence, are  being  taught  the  divine  canons  of 
moral  and  spiritual  judgment.  This  work  is 
represented  here,  as  in  ch.  13  :  32,  as  being  com- 
pleted in  the  death  of  Christ  {xixijizui,  perf.), 
because  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  the  consum- 
mate work  of  the  Evil  One,  was  at  once  hia 
apj)arent  victory  and  his  real  defeat.  In  the 
crucifixion  he  pre-eminently  had  his  own  way, 
and  by  the  crucifixion  he  is  defeated  throughout 
the  ages.  Thus  it  is  in  and  by  the  cross  that  he 
is  pre-eminently  judged.  On  the  phrase  prince 
of  this  luorld,  see  John  12  :  31 ;  14  :  30  ;  and  comp. 
Ephes.  2  :  2.  Interpreting  it  to  mean  Christ  is 
contrary  to  all  N.  T.  usage.  In  all  this  threefold 
work  the  Holy  Spirit  glorifies  Christ  (ver.  w) ;  it 
convicts  the  world  of  sin,  by  showing  what  a 
Saviour  it  has  rejected  ;  it  teaches  the  world  of 
righteousness,  by  showing  the  world  in  Christ 
the  divine  ideal  of  sanctified  humanity ;  and  it 
educates  the  world  in  judgment,  by  the  perpet- 
ual contrast  between  the  policies  of  the  world 
and  the  enduring  and  peace-bringing  principles 
of  Christ,  demonstrating  in  the  cross  that  the 
weakness  of  Christ  is  stronger  than  the  strength 
of  Satan,  and  the  defeat  of  Christ  is  a  victory 
over  Satan.     See  1  Cor.  1  :  23-25. 

12.  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say  unto 
you,  but  ye  cannot  bear  them  noAV.  This 
was  Christ's  last  conference  with  his  disciples, 
and  in  his  interviews  with  them  after  the  resur- 
rection he  added  very  little  to  the  instructions 
previously  given  to  them.  Clearly,  therefore, 
he  here  implies  a  progressive  teaching  to  be  af- 
forded by  him  through  the  Spirit  to  the  church 
in  the  future  ages.  It  is  of  this  future  teaching 
he  speaks  in  this  and  the  next  three  verses. 
These  truths  the  disciples  could  not  then  bear, 
that  is,  lift  up  and  take  away  with  them  {Sacitdlui), 
because  they  had  not  yet  the  mental  and  spirit- 
ual strength.  Among  the  truths  which  were 
thus  too  much  for  them,  and  which  were  mer- 
cifully concealed  from  their  knowledge,  was  the 
long  period  which  must  intervene  before  the 
spiritual  work  of  the  church  could  be  com- 
pleted and  the  world  be  ready  for  the  Second 
Coming  of  its  Lord.  Christ's  language  clearly 
implies  that  he  held  back  phases  of  truth  for 


Ch.  XVL] 


JOHN. 


197 


13  Howbeit  when  he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come, 
he"'  will  guide  you  into  all  truth:  for  he  shall  not 
speak  of  himself ;  but  whatsoever  he  shall  hear,  that 
shall  he  speak :  and  he "  will  shew  you  things  to  come. 


14  He  shall  glorify  me  :  for  he  shall  receive  of  mine, 
and  shall  shew  it  unto  you. 

15  .\ll  things  that  the  Father  hath  are  mine :  there- 
fore said  1,  that  he  shall  take  of  mine,  and  shall  shew 
it  unto  you. 


r  ch.  U  :  26 s  Rev.  1  :  1,  19. 


which  his  disciples  were  not  ready,  and  thus 
affords  a  clear  example  and  divine  authority  for 
the  religious  teacher,  who  may  never  suppress 
the  truth  because  it  is  unpopular — this  Christ 
never  did — but  who  may  and  should  adapt  his 
teaching  of  the  truth  to  the  spiritual  capacity  of 
his  hearers. 

13.  Howbeit  when  that  one  (izsnoc,  em- 
phatic), the  Spirit,  is  come,  he  will  guide 
you  into  all  the  truth.  "The  term  guide 
(lifhiyfuj,  to  show  the  road)  presents  the  Spirit 
under  the  image  of  a  guide  conducting  a  traveler 
in  an  unknown  country.  This  country  is  truth." 
—{Godef.)  This  guidance  is  given  to  the  church 
throughout  all  ages,  leading  them  by  gradual 
processes  into  ever  higher  and  broader  concep- 
tions of  divine  truth. — For  he  shall  not  speak 
from  himself.  F)-om  {dnu)  marks  the  remote 
or  ultimate  origin  or  cause.  As  Christ  traces  all 
the  source  of  his  own  authority  back  to  the 
Father,  who  dwelleth  in  him  (ch.  5 :  19,  so ;  7 :  28 ; 
u  :  20),  80  he  traces  back  to  the  same  source  the 
authority  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Thus  he  guards 
his  disciples  against  that  subtle  tritheism  which 
regards  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
as  practically  three  deities.  See  ch.  15  :  26.  Both 
the  Son  and  the  Spirit  take  those  things  which 
they  receive  of  the  Father  and  give  to  the  be- 
liever, and  the  object  of  their  ministry  is  to  bring 
the  believer  into  fellowship  with  the  Father. — 
And  he  will  show  you  things  to  come. 
Rather  the  coming  things.     As  the  coming  one 

(o  io/6uirn?)  (Matt.  3  :  11  j    Rev.  I  :  4)  Is  the   MeSSiah, 

and  as  the  coming  world  (Mark  lo  :  so)  is  the  Mes- 
siah's kingdom,  so  the  coming  things  (r«  io/iJuiru) 
are  those  things  which  are  connected  with  the 
future  advent  and  the  final  kingdom  of  the  Mes- 
siah. The  Holy  Spirit  shall  not  merely  bring  all 
things  which  their  Lord  has  taught  them  to  the 
disciples'  remembrance  (ch.  14 :  se),  but  shall  also 
teach  them  concerning  the  things  of  the  future  ; 
he  shall  inspire  their  hope  as  well  as  clarify  their 
memory.  This  promise  of  Christ  was  primarily 
fulfilled  in  the  prophetic  hopes  and  anticipations 
inspired  in  the  early  church,  and  in  the  prophetic 
character  given  to  many  of  the  apostolic  utter- 
ances, e.  g.,  Rom.  11  :  2.5-32;  1  Cor.  15  :  5(K53; 
1  Thess.  4  :  13-18 ;  Titus  2  :  11-14.  But  this  office 
of  the  Spirit  was  not  consummated  in  apostolic 
times  ;  those  who  submit  themselves  to  his  guid- 
ance and  instruction  will  still  press  forward 
toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling 
of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  ever  looking  for  that 


blessed  and  glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God 
and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  "He  will  not 
allow  us  to  be  satisfied  with  our  advanced  knowl- 
edge or  great  discoveries,  but  will  always  be 
showing  us  things  that  are  coming ;  giving  us  an 
apprehension  of  truths  that  we  have  not  yet 
reached,  though  they  be  truths  which  are  'the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever.' " — {3fau- 
rice. ) 

14,  15.  He  shall  magnify  me.  That  is, 
the  office  of  the  Spirit  shall  be  to  magnify 
Christ,  his  character,  his  work.  See  above  on 
verses  9-11.  Any  pretended  dispensation  of  the 
Spirit  which  draws  the  thought  of  the  world 
away  from  Christ  to  some  other  and  independent 
authority  is  spurious,  whether  it  be  that  of  eccle- 
siastical tradition  as  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  or 
that  of  the  mysticism  which  substitutes  an  inner 
light  for  the  word  and  authority  of  Christ,  or  that 
of  spiritism,  introducing  in  lieu  of  that  word 
communications  with  the  spirit  world.  That  only 
is  the  message  of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  tends  to 
magnify  Christ.— He  shall  receive  of  mine, 
and  shall  it  show  unto  you.  To  receive  of 
Christ  (/.«u;i«i(u)  is  to  accept,  acknowledge,  and 
follow  his  instructions  as  a  teacher.  This  use  of 
the  word  is  especially  marked  in  John's  employ- 
ment of  it  in  respect  to  Christ,  e.  g.,  ch.  1  :  12 ; 
5  :  43  ;  13  :  20.  The  declaration,  then,  is  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  comes  not  to  gainsay  or  cancel,  and 
not  even,  in  strictness  of  speech,  to  add  to  the 
instructions  of  Christ,  but  to  accept  them,  and 
accepting,  interpret  them,  giving  to  them  in  the 
future  apprehension  of  the  church  a  profounder 
significance  than  they  had  or  could  have  in  the 
apprehension  of  his  own  contemporaries. — All 
things  that  the  Father  hath  are  mine ; 
therefore  said  I,  etc.  We  are  not,  however, 
to  imagine  that  Christ's  teaching  is  confined  to 
the  words  uttered  by  him  in  the  flesh  and  re- 
ported to  us  in  the  Gospels.  All  things  that  the 
Father  hath  are  his  ;  the  book  of  nature  and  the 
book  of  Providence  are  his  as  truly  as  the  spoken 
and  reported  word.  And  in  receiving  and  spir- 
itually interpreting  the  testimony  of  nature  and 
life,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  receiving  from  him  and 
showing  to  us.  If  we  understand  his  teaching 
aright,  we  shall  always  see  in  it  Christ  magnified. 

In  these  verses  (7-15)  Christ  points  out  more 
specifically  than  he  has  previously  done  to  his 
disciples,  and  through  them  to  us,  the  office  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  nature  of  his  dispensa- 
tion.   It  is  for  our  benefit  that  the  manifestation 


198 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XVI. 


i6  A  little  while,  and  ye  shall  not  see  me :  and  again, 
a  little  while,  and  ye  shall  see  me,  because  I  go  to  the 
Father. 

17  Then  said  some  of  his  disciples  among  themselves. 
What  is  this  that  he  saith  unto  us,  A  little  while,  and 
ye  shall  not  see  me :  and  a^ain,  a  little  while,  and  ye 
shall  see  me  :  and,  Because  I  go  to  the  Father  ? 


18  They  said  therefore.  What  is  this  that  he  saith,  A 
little  while?  we  cannot  tell  what  he  saith. 

19  Now  Jesus  knew  '  that  they  were  desirous  to  ask 
him,  and  said  unto  them.  Do  ye  inquire  among  your- 
selves of  that  I  said,  A  little"  while,  and  ve  shall  not 
see  me :  and  again,  a  little  while,  and  ye  shall  see  me  ? 

20  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  That  ye''  shall 


t  ch.  2  :  24,  25  . . . .  11  Terse  16 ;  ch.  7  :  33  ;  13  :  33  ;  14  :  19  ....  v  Luke  24  :  17,  21. 


of  God  in  the  flesh  and  to  the  sense  has  ceased, 
m  order  that  the  inward  manifestation  to  the 
faith — profounder,  broader,  and  more  universal 
— may  take  its  place.  This  invisible  but  indwell- 
ing Spirit  comes  that  he  may  teach  the  world 
the  reality  and  greatness  of  its  sin,  the  true  con- 
ception of  righteousness,  and  the  canons  of  a 
divine  spiritual  discernment.  This  work  of  the 
Spirit  is  a  perpetually  progressive  work,  guid- 
ing, by  successive  steps,  the  church  into  the 
way  of  all  truth.  In  it  the  Spirit  speaks  from 
and  by  authority  of  the  Father,  and  concerning 
the  future,  turning  the  thoughts  of  the  believer 
ever  toward  a  larger  knowledge  and  a  higher 
and  diviner  life  ;  albeit  in  all  he  acts  not  as  a  re- 
vealer  of  a  new  Gospel,  but  as  an  interpreter  of 
the  teachings  of  Christ,  in  the  written  word  and 
in  all  the  things  of  God,  in  nature  and  hfe, 
which  are  themselves  the  things  of  Christ ;  so 
that  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  is  not  an  addi- 
tion to  but  an  essential  part  of  Christianity,  the 
reveaUng  in  its  fullness  to  the  ever-growing 
spiritual  apprehension  of  the  church  the  truth 
of  and  from  Christ. 

16.  Yet  a  little  while  and  ye  shall  not 
see  me  (OiMoiw),  and  again  a  little  while 
and  ye  shall  perceive  me  (d^uto),  because  I 
go  aAvay  to  the  Father.  There  is  some 
doubt  respecting  the  last  clause,  because  I  go  to 
the  Father;  it  is  omitted  by  Alford,  Meyer, 
Luthardt,  and  Tischendorf,  queried  by  Lach- 
mann,  retained  by  Godet.  But  the  fact  that  the 
phrase  reappears  in  the  disciples'  expression  of 
their  perplexity,  in  the  next  verse,  seems  to  me 
to  furnish  very  nearly  conclusive  evidence  that 
it  belongs  here.  Those  who  omit  it  here  suppose 
that  the  disciples  put  with  what  he  has  just  now 
said,  what  he  had  previously  said  in  ver.  10.  Ob- 
serve the  contrast  between  the  first  and  second 
seeing  ;  two  different  verbs  are  both  rendered  see ; 
the  one  signifies  properly  an  external  percep- 
tion by  the  senses  •,  the  other  is  also  used  to  in- 
dicate a  mental  or  spiritual  perception,  and  that 
appears  to  be  its  meaning  here.  In  a  little 
while  Christ  should  be  no  longer  visibly  present 
with  his  disciples ;  a  little  while  more,  and,  in  the 
dispensation  of  the  Spirit  inaugurated  at  Pente- 
cost, they  should  again  perceive  him  by  spiritual 
apprehension.  It  is  evident  that  Christ  does  not 
refer  to  his  Second  Coming,  both  because  he 
changes  the  form  of  the  verb,  so  indicating  an- 


other and  unsensuous  seeing,  and  because  not  a 
little  but  a  long  while  was  to  elapse  between  the 
departure  of  the  Lord  and  his  Second  Coming. 

17-19.  The  disciples,  however,  had  no  other 
thought  of  any  second  advent  of  their  Master 
than  that  in  which  they  should  sensuously  see 
as  well  as  spiritually  perceive  him.  They  there- 
fore ask  among  themselves  what  he  means  by 
this  distinction  between  seeing  and  ^jerceM'iwg' 
him.  Their  difficulty  was  the  same  as  that  pre- 
viously expressed  by  Judas,  with  the  analogous 
declaration  of  Christ  that  he  would  manifest 
himself  to  them  (ch.  u  :  22).  It  was  enhanced  by 
Christ's  statement  that  this  new  manifestation 
to  the  spirit  should  be  in  a  little  while ;  for  in 
his  discourse  on  the  Last  Day  (see  Matt.,  ch.  24,  notes) 
he  had  plainly  implied  that  a  long  interval  of 
trial  and  persecution  must  intervene  before  his 
Second  Coming  in  power  and  glory.  They  there- 
fore inquire  in  whispers  of  one  another  Avhat  he 
means  by  this,  "  Ye  shall  not  see  me,  and  ye 
shall  perceive  me,"  and  what  by  "^  little 
wJdle.''''  Their  fear  to  ask  Christ  is  one  of  the 
many  indications  of  the  peculiar  awe  which  his 
presence  inspired  in  them ;  their  love  was  rev- 
erential, not  familiar  ;  the  love  of  a  child  for  an 
honored  teacher,  not  that  of  an  equal  (Mark  9  :  32; 
Luke  9 :  45).  See  further,  note  on  verses  29,  .30, 
below. 

20.  Ye  shall  weep  and  lament  *  *  * 
ye  shall  be  sorrowful.  These  three  different 
words  are  iised  to  express  the  same  substantial 
idea  ;  not  to  convey  different  shades  of  meaning, 
but  to  give  emphasis,  and  to  indicate  the  large- 
ness and  breadth  of  the  impending  anguish  of 
the  disciples.  To  weep  (y.Xalw)  is  a  general  word 
including  every  external  expression  of  grief ;  to 
lament  (d-Qipiw)  is  somewhat  more  specifically  to 
wail,  and  is  used  respecting  the  lamentation  of 

hired  mourners  (see  notes  on  Mark  5  :  38  ;  Luke  23  :  27)  ;  tO  be 

sorrowful  (XvTiiw)  is  more  spiritual,  and  expresses 
the  feeling  of  the  heart  rather  than  any  outward 
expression.  The  disciples  lamented  the  death  of 
Christ  at  the  time  of  his  crucifixion,  and  their 
lamentation  was  in  striking  contrast  with  the 
malignant  joy  of  the  world  (comp.  Matt.  27 :  39-44  with 
John  19 :  25-27).  They  experienced  in  the  apparent 
shame  of  their  Master's  ignominious  death  a 
deep,  heartfelt  sorrow,  but  it  was  turned  into  joy 
when  later  they  saw  in  the  cross  the  manifesta- 
tion of  the  wisdom  and  glory  of  God  (1  Cor.  1 :  23-25). 


Oh.  XVL] 


JOHN. 


199 


weep  and  lament,  but  the  world  shall  rejoice :  and  ye 
shall  be  sorrowful,  but  your  sorrow  shall  be  turned 
into  joy. 

21  A  woman"  when  she  is  in  travail  h;ith  sorrow, 
because  her  hour  is  come :  but  as  soon  as  she  is  deliv- 
ered of  the  child,  she  remembereth  no  more  the  an- 
guish, for  joy  that  a  man  is  born  into  the  world. 


22  And  ye  '  now  therefore  have  sorrow :  but  I  will 
see  you  again,  and  your  >'  heart  shall  rejoice,  and  your 
joy  '■  no  man  takcth  from  you. 

23  And  in  that  day  ye  shall  ask  me  nothing.  Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you.  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  the 
Father  in  my  name,  he  will  give  it  you. 


w  Isa.  26  :  n  ....  I  verse  6  . .  .  .  y  ch.  20  :  20 ;  Luke  24 :  41,  62  ....  z  1  Pet.  1  :  8. 


21,  22.  A  Avomaii  Avheii  she  brings  forth 
hath  sorrow.  The  figure  of  a  woiniin  in  tra- 
vail is  used  in  the  O.  T.  to  illustrate  sudden  and 

great  anguish  (Ua.  21  :  S;    26  :  n  ;  66  :  7  ;  Hos.  13  :  13;  Micali 

4  :  9,  10).  Christ  lays  hold  upon  this  familiar 
figure  and  gives  it  a  new  .signification,  indicating 
that  the  pain  is  but  a  preparation  for  and  a  pre- 
sage of  a  greater  joy.     And  this  is  generally  the 

N.  T.  use  of  the  figure  (Matt.  24  :  S,  note  ;    Rom.  8  :  22). 

The  contrast  is  an  instructive  illustration  of  the 
difference  between  the  O.  T.  and  the  N.  T.  We 
are  not  mystically  to  interpret  the  figure  here  by 
saying  that  the  travail  of  the  Son  of  God  was 
necessary  in  order  to  bring  the  Messiah  forth  as 
a  King  and  lawgiver.  However  true  this  may 
be,  it  is  not  the  truth  here  enforced.  Christ 
speaks  not  of  his  own  suffering  for  sinners,  but 
of  the  suffering  of  the  disciples  in  and  because 
of  him ;  and  this  suffering  he  declares  \vlll  be 
forgotten  when  it  has  accomplished  its  purpose 
and  brought  forth  its  fruits  in  and  for  them. 
See  the  same  general  truth  illustrated  by  Rom. 

5  :  3-5 ;  Heb.  I'i  :  11.  Observe  that,  as  above, 
the  sorrow  is  not  merely  displaced  by  joy,  but  is 
tu7-ned  into  joy ;  the  travail  is  not  merely  fol- 
lowed by  gladness,  but  brings  forth  that  which 
is  the  cause  of  the  gladness.  Comp.  Rom.  8  :  18, 
where  the  glory  is  represented  as  revealed  in  us 
because  of  the  sufferings,  and  Heb.  13  :  11, 
where  the  fruits  of  chastening  are  promised  only 
to  those  that  are  "exercised  thereby."  Comp. 
Rev.  7  :  11. — I  Avill  see  you  asralii,  and  your 
heart  shall  rejoice.  But  he  does  not  say,  Te 
shall  see  me  again.  He  is  speaking  not  of  his 
second  and  visible  coming,  but  of  his  spiritual 
and  invisible  presence.  His  words  are  inter- 
preted to  us  by  history,  and  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  two  is  plain  ;  to  the  apostles  they 
were  not  so  interpreted,  and  upon  the  tradi- 
tional report  of  such  words  as  these  the  apos- 
tolic church  may  have  built  its  hope  of  Christ's 
Second  Coming  in  their  own  time.  /  ivill  see  you 
expresses  Christ's  sympathy  for  his  church  in 
all  their  experiences,  whether  of  joy  or  sorrow. 
See  Rev.  1  :  12,  13 ;  3  : 1.  He  weeps  with  those 
that  weep,  and  rejoices  with  those  that  rejoice  ; 
not  a  hair  of  the  head  perishes,  not  a  sparrow  in 
the  church  falls  without  his  knowledge.  Your 
heart  shall  rejoice  foretells  such  experiences  as 
those  of  Peter  and  other  apostles  (Acts  5  -.  4i),  Ste- 
phen (Acts  6 :  16),  Paul  and  Silas  (Acta  le :  25),  etc. — 


And  your  joy  no  one  taketh  away  from 
you.  Because  it  is  Christ's  joy  (.;h.  15  :  11),  a  joy 
in  God  (Phil.  3:1;  4:1),  whicli  is  Ml  the  new-born 
soul,  not  merely  given  to  it,  and  therefore  can- 
not be  taken  from  it  by  any  experience  what- 
ever (Rom.  S  :  28,  37-39). 

23,  24.  And  in  that  day  ye  shall  inquire 
nothing  of  me.  Verily,  verily  I  say  unto 
you,  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  the  Father 
he  will  give  it  to  you  in  my  name.    In  our 

English  version  two  different  Greek  words  are 
rendered  by  the  word  ask  in  this  verse,  suggest- 
ing a  contrast  which  does  not  exist  in  the  origi- 
nal. Christ  does  not  distinguish  between  two 
epochs  in  Christian  experience  ;  in  the  earlier  and 
more  imperfect  one  prayer  being  offered  to 
Christ,  in  the  later  and  perfected  one  prayer 
being  offered  directly  to  the  Father.  He  speci- 
fies two  distinct  blessings  which  shall  attend 
upon  the  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
disciples,  perplexed  by  Christ's  enigmatical  lan- 
guage, had  desired  but  feared  to  ask  an  expla- 
nation (verses  17,  is).  Christ  tells  them  that  when 
the  Holy  Spirit  shall  have  come  with  his  illumi- 
nating and  quickening  influences,  they  shall  no 
longer  be  perplexed  by  truths  which  now  they 
cannot  understand.  In  that  day  they  shall  no 
longer  need  to  interrogate  him  for  an  interpreta- 
tion. Then  he  adds  that  this  dispensation  shall 
be  one  of  great  power  in  prayer  :  Whatsoever  ye 
shall  request  the  Father  he  wUl  give  it  you. 
"  There  is  not  in  this  verse  a  contrast  drawn  be- 
tween asking  the  Son,  which  shall  cease,  and 
asking  th£  Father,  which  shall  begin ;  but  the 
first  half  of  the  verse  closes  the  declaration  of 
one  blessing,  namely,  that  hereafter  they  shall 
be  so  taught  by  the  Spirit  as  to  have  nothing 
further  to  inquire ;  the  second  half  of  the  verse 
begins  the  declaration  of  a  new  blessing,  that 
whatsoever  they  shall  seek  from  the  Father  in 
the  Son's  name,  he  will  give  it  them." — (Trench.) 
And  in  fact  one  of  the  first  and  most  notable  in- 
fluences of  the  descent  of  the  Spirit  was  to 
make  clear  to  the  minds  of  the  apostles  those 
spiritual  truths  concerning  the  character  of 
Christ  and  his  kingdom  which  had  theretofore 
been  hidden  from  their  eyes.  And  ever  since, 
growth  in  spiritual  life  has  made  clear  sayings 
which  are  dark  and  incomprehensible  to  the  un- 
spiritual.  The  reading,  Jle  will  give  to  ijou  in  my 
name,  is  preferable  to  the  reading  of  the  Re- 


200 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XVI. 


24  Hitherto  have  ye  asked  nothing  in  my  name : 
ask,"  and  ye  shall  receive,  that  yourt"  joy  may  be  lull. 

25  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you  in  pro- 
verbs :  but  the  time  cometh,  when  1  shall  no  more 
speak  unto  you  in  proverbs,  but  I  shall  shew  you 
plainly  of  the  Father. 

26  At  that  dav  ''  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name :  and  I  say 
not  unto  you,  that  I  will  pray  the  Father  for  you : 


27  For  the  Father'' himself  loveth  you,  because  ye 
have  loved  me,  and  have  believed  that  I «  came  out 
Irom  God. 

28  I  came  forth  from  the  Father,  and  am  come  into 
the  world :  again,  I  leave  the  world,  and  go  to  the 
Father. 

29  His  disciples  said  unto  him,  Lo,  now  speakest 
thou  plainly,  and  speakest  no  proverb. 


a  Matt.  7  :  7,  8  ;  James  4  :  2,  3  . . . .  b  ch.  15  :  11  . . . 


■23 d  ch.  14  :  21,  23 e  verse  30  ;  ch.  17  :  8. 


ceived  Text,  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name, 
{Tischendorf,  Meijer,  Alford.)  But  the  fact  that 
the  Father  gives  in  the  name  of  Christ,  by  whom 
He  made,  sustains,  and  governs  the  world  (coi. 

1  :  16-20;  Heb.  1  :  1,  2),  and  through  whom  all  his 
redeeming  love  is  manifested  to  his  earthly  chil- 
dren, presupposes  that  they  present  their  re- 
quests through  him  as  their  Mediator,  that  is, 
in  His  name. — Until  now  ye  have  asked 
nothing  in  my  name;  ask  and  ye  shall 
receive,  that  your  joy  may  be  full.  Not 
until  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  did  the  dis- 
ciples recognize  Christ  as  a  Divine  Mediator  and 
Intercessor.  Prayer  out  of  Christ  is  offered  to  a 
God  from  whom  the  soul  is  separated  hy  a  con- 
sciousness of  sin  (isa.  59  :  2).  Such  prayer  is  often 
one  of  wrestling  and  of  anguish  ;  and  the  deeper 
the  consciousness  of  sin  the  greater  the  mental 
and  spiritual  stress.  Christ  lays  emphasis  here 
upon  the  fact  that  his  disciples  are  to  pray  in  his 
name,  that  is,  standing  in  his  stead,  the  prophe- 
cies of  the  O.  T.  fulfilled  and  their  sins  and  in- 
iquities blotted  out  as  a  thick  cloud  (isa.  44  :  22), 
and  they  themselves  brought  into  filial  relations 
with  the  Father,  reconciled  unto  God,  and  re- 
ceiving the  Spirit  of  Adoption  whereby  they  cry 
Abba  Father  (Rom.  8 :  15).  Thus  prayer,  which  in 
the  O.  T.  was  often  characterized  by  fear  and 

wrestling  (Gen.  I8  :  27,  30,  32  ;  Exod.  32  :  31,  32  ;  Psalms  42,43), 

is  in  the  N.  T.  almost  always  characterized  by 
joy  and  thanksgiving  (Ephes.  3 :  14-21 ;  Coi.  1  :  9,  12 ; 

2  Thess.  1  :  11, 12).  In  the  reading  of  this  direction 
of  Christ  respecting  prayer  we  are  to  interpret 
the  direction  to  ask  in  Christ's  name  and  the 
declaration  that  the  Father  will  give  in  Christ's 
name  by  the  experience  of  the  apostolic  church, 
who  did  all  things  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus 

Christ  (John  20  :  31 ;  Acts  2  :  38  ;  3  :  6  ;  5  ;  28 ;  9  :  27  ;  10  :  43 ; 
16  :  18 ;  Rom.  1  :  8  j  1  Cor.  6:11;  Ephes.  1  :  21 ;  Phil.  2  :  9,  10  ;  Rev. 
2  ;  3, 13  ;  22  :  4). 

23-27.  These  things  have  1  spoken  unto 
you  in  figures;  *  *  *  but  I  shall  show 
you  plainly  of  the  Father.  In  the  imper- 
fection of  human  language  all  teaching  respect- 
ing spiritual  things  is  of  necessity  in  figures. 
Christ's  teaching,  not  only  to  the  multitude,  but 
to  his  own  disciples,  and  in  this  last  interview, 
was  figurative.  See  for  example  ch.  14  :  2,  16, 
18 ;  15  :  1 ;  16  :  21.  But  he  foretells  a  time  in 
which  these  spiritual  truths  shall  be  spiritually 
revealed  (i  Cor.  2  : 9,  10).     "  The  entire  human  lan- 


guage is  a  parable,  as  it  does  not  admit  of  ade- 
quate expression  concerning  some  things.  The 
Lord  therefore  contrasts  with  the  use  of  this 
feeble  medium  of  communication  the  employ- 
ment of  one  more  internal  and  more  real.  By 
the  impartation  of  his  Spirit,  the  Lord  teaches 
the  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  God  freely  and 
openly  {nu(\i>nal<c),  without  any  fear  of  a  misun- 
derstanding."— {Olshausen.) — At  that  day  ye 
shall  ask  in  my  name ;  and  I  say  not  ta 
you  that  I  will  request  the  Father  on  your 
behalf,  for  the  Father  himself  loveth  you, 
because  ye  have  loved  me  and  have  had 
faith  that  I  come  from  the  presence  of  the 
Father.  Or  from  God;  there  is  some  uncer- 
tainty as  to  the  reading.  Christ  does  not  say 
that  he  will  not  request  the  Father  on  behalf  of 
his  disciples  ;  but  if  we  take  the  whole  sentence 
in  its  connections  he  does  clearly  teach,  not  only 
that  no  intercession  is  required  to  win  the  love 
of  the  Father,  but  also  that  they  who  have  loved 
Christ,  and  have  spiritually  recognized  the  divine 
life  manifested  in  him,  are  thereby  brought  into 
direct  personal  communion  with  the  Father,  and 
need  no  intercessor.  "WhUe  their  hearts  are 
the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  they  maintain 
communion  with  the  Father  they  will  need  no 
other  advocate ;  but  '  If  any  man  sin  we  have  an 
advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  right- 
eous' (1  John  2 :  1)." — (Watkins.)  Beware  of  sup- 
posing that  this  passage  impliedly  teaches  that 
the  Father's  love  depends  on  the  prior  faith  and 
love  of  the  disciple.  The  contrary  doctrine  is 
abundantly  taught  in  the  Bible,  and  nowhere 
more  clearly  than  in  the  writings  of  John  (ch. 
3 :  16;  1  John  4  : 9,  10,  19).  But  lovc  has  many  inflec- 
tions, and  the  fullness  of  the  Divine  love  is  pos- 
sible only  to  those  who  by  love  and  faith  enter 
into  the  adoption  of  the  children  of  God.  The 
love  of  the  father  to  the  prodigal  in  the  far  coun- 
try is  not  the  same  as  the  love  to  the  same  son, 
clothed  and  in  his  right  mind,  sitting  at  his 
father's  board. 

28.  "  This  verse,"  says  Bengel,  "  contains  the 
most  important  recapitulation ;  "  "a  simple  and 
grand  summary  of  Christ's  entire  life,  his  origin, 
his  incarnation,  and  his  destiny,"  Meyer  calls  it. 
It  is  this,  but  also  more  than  this.  The  disciples 
have  believed  that  Christ  came  from  the  Father ; 
Christ  seizes  on  this  belief  that  he  may  awaken 
their  hope  by  leading  them  to  see  that  in  going 


Ch.  XVIL] 


JOHN. 


201 


30  Now  are  we  sure  that  thou  knowest  all  things, 
and  needest  not  that  any  man  shoulil  ask  thee  :  by  this 
we  believe  tliat  thou  earnest  forth  from  God. 

31  Jesus  answered  them,  Do  ye  now  believe  ? 

32  Behold/  the  hour  cometh,  yea,  is  now  come,  that 
ye  shall  be  scattered,  every  man  to  his  own,  and  shall 


leave  me  alone :  and  yet  I  e  am  not  alone,  because  the 
Father  is  witli  me. 

33  These  things  1  have  spoken  unto  you,  that  in  me^ 
ye  might  liave  peace.  In'  the  world  ye  shall  have 
tribulation :  but  be  of  good  cheer :  I  have  overcome 
the  world. 


f  Matt.  26  :  31 J  Mark  14  :  27 gfh.  8  :  29;  Isa.  50  :  7,  9 h  ch.  14  ;  27  ;  Rom.  5  :  1  j  Ephes.  2  :  14 i  ch.  15  :  19-21  ;   2  Tim.  3  :  12. 


from  the  world  he  must  return  to  the  Father. 
Thus  he  leads  back  their  miuds  to  the  declara- 
tion, "If  ye  loved  me  ye  would  rejoice  because 
I  ^o  unto  the  Father  "  (ch.  u  :  as). 

29,  30.  These  verses  clearly  show  a  change 
In  the  spirit  of  the  disciples.  They  had  begun 
the  supper  by  a  contention  for  the  first  place  at 
the  table.  They  had  almost  scouted  at  Christ's 
prophecy  of  their  desertion  (.Matt.  26 :  aii-so).  The 
questionings  of  Thomas,  Philip,  and  Judas  (ch. 
14  : 5, 8,  22)  indicate  not  only  perplexity,  but  a 
state  of  semi-skepticism,  removed  from  absolute 
disbelief  on  the  one  hand  and  from  unquestion- 
ing faith  on  the  other.  This  spirit  is  abated  as 
the  conference  proceeds,  and  it  is  because  the 
disciples  are  ashamed  to  confess  it  that  they 
question  with  bated  breath  among  themselves 
the  meaning  of  his  words,  "A  little  while  and 
ye  shall  not  see  me,  and  again  a  little  while  and 
ye  shall  perceive  me  "  (verses  17-10).  Now  they  de- 
clare their  doubts  allayed  ;  there  is  no  need  to 
question  him  further ;  they  are  convinced  that 
he  knows  all  things  ;  they  are  willing  to  take  his 
declarations  without  questioning ;  this  absolute 
credence  they  declare  as  the  evidence  of  their 
faith  that  he  came  forth  from  God.  They  do 
not  profess  fully  to  understand  their  Master,  only 
fully  to  believe  him.  Augustine's  remark,  there- 
fore, is  more  epigrammatic  than  just :  "They  so 
little  understand  that  they  do  not  even  under- 
stand that  they  do  nof  understand.  For  they 
were  babes." 

31,32.  Do  ye  now  believe?  Most  of  the 
commentators  take  this  affirmatively.  Ye  do  now 
believe,  and  the  original  is  capable  of  either  con- 
struction. Our  Enghsh  version  seems  to  me 
preferable.  Christ  does  not  indeed  deny  their 
faith,  but  he  questions  it,  that  he  may  lead  them 
to  question  themselves.  He  cautions  them  that 
their  faith  in  his  divine  origin,  sweet  as  it  may 
be  to  them  in  this  hour  of  quiet  conference,  is 
not  sufficiently  strong  to  stand  in  the  hour  of 
treachery,  peril,  and  death.  So  many  a  disciple 
has  had  faith  in  divine  principles  and  truths  in 
the  hour  of  his  quiet  meditation  upon  them, 
which  he  has  deserted  when  holding  fast  to 
them  would  involve  suflfe ring.— And  ye  shall 
leave  me  alone;  and  yet  I  am  not  alone, 
because  the  Father  is  with  me.  This  sen- 
tence is  one  of  those  parenthetical  asides  which 
give  us  a  glimpse  of  the  inmost  heart  of  Christ : 
his  spiritual  loneliness,  and  the  temper  of  his 


solitude.  See  Robertson's  Sermon  on  the  Lone- 
I'uiess  of  Christ. 

33.   These  things   I   have   spoken   unto 
you  that  in  me  ye  might  have  peace.    By 

these  thi/iys  is  meant  the  whole  discourse  con- 
tained in  chaps.  14,  15,  and  IG.  Comp.  ch.  14  : 
27;  10  :  4,  notes. — In  the  world  ye  shall 
have  tribulation;  but  be  of  good  courage, 
I  have  conquered  the  world.  Thus  Christ 
ends  as  he  began  this  discourse,  with  encourage- 
ment. In  Christ  we  have  peace,  because  in 
Christ  we  are  more  than  conquerors  (Rom.  8 :  ?,i. 
Comp.  2  Cor.  4:7;  6 : 4-io).  Meyer  Well  remarks  that 
Paul's  whole  life  is  a  commentary  on  this  verse  ; 
and  Luther,  whose  life  was  a  scarcely  less  elo- 
quent interpretation,  thus  paraphrases  it :  "The 
game  is  already  won.  Do  not  be  afraid  that  I 
will  send  you  thither  to  venture  it  at  your  own 
risk.  The  victory  is  already  there,  only  be  un- 
despairing  and  hold  fast  to  it." 


Ch.  17  :  1-26.  CHRIST'S  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER.— 
His  prater  of  preparation  for  thp  Passion.— 
His  prater  of  intercession  for  his  church. — His 
mission  and  its  fuxfillment. — The  mission  of  his 
FOLLOWERS. — His  fourfold  petition  for  them  : 
preservation  ;  consecration  ;  sanctifioation  ; 
glorification.    See  on  ver.  24. 

Preliminart  Note. — We  rightly  hesitate  to 
analyze  or  criticise  any  jjrayer ;  the  language  of 
devotion  is  too  sacred.  How  much  more  when 
the  prayer  is  the  intimate  communing  of  the 
only  begotten  Son  with  his  Father,  a  prayer 
which  no  soul  can  ever  comprehend,  and  none 
can  therefore  ever  interpret.  Nevertheless,  it 
would  not  have  been  recorded  if  it  had  not  been 
intended  for  our  profit ;  and  it  can  only  be  for 
our  profit  as  it  is  made  the  theme  of  our  reverent 
study.  In  this  exposition  of  it  I  avoid  as  far  as 
possible  verbal  and  textual  criticism,  giving  re- 
sults rather  than  discussions.  These  the  student 
can  find  in  other  commentaries,  especially  Tho- 
luck  and  Meyer.  For  the  same  reason  I  eschew 
theological  polemics.  Socinian,  Arian,  and 
Trinitarian  have  fought  over  the  words  and 
phrases  of  this  sacred  prayer,  each,  and  perhaps 
the  one  not  more  than  the  other,  evolving  from 
it  arguments  for  his  philosophy  of  the  character 
of  Christ,  and  of  life  here  and  hereafter.  Into 
such  confiicts  I  have  no  heart  to  enter.  The 
student  mil  find  them  indicated,  and  even  illus- 
trated, in  Alford.     I  have  sought  by  meditation 


202 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XVII. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

THESE  words  spake  Jesus,  and  lifted  up  his  eyes  to 
heaven,  and  said,  Father,  the  hourJ  is  come;  glo- 
rify thy  Son,  that  thy  Son  also  may  glorify  thee : 


2  As  thou  hast  given  him  power  over  all  flesh,  that 
he  ^  should  give  eternal  life  to  as  many  as  thou  hast 
given  him. 

3  And  this'  is  life  eternal,  that  they  might  know 
thee™  the  only"  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom 
thou  °  hast  sent. 


j  ch.  12  :  23  ;  13  :  32 k  verse  24  ;  ch.  5  :  27 11  John  5:11 m  Jer.  9  :  23,  24 n  1  Thess.  1:9 o  ch   10  :  36. 


to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  this,  the  most  sacred 
utterance  of  our  Lord,  and  I  seek  with  simplicity 
to  aid  others  in  meditating  upon  it ;  if  through 
such  meditation  the  spirit  of  the  believer  is 
brought  into  unity  with  the  Spirit  of  his  Lord,  it 
is  enough.  The  prayer  is  not  didactic ;  certainly 
not  dogmatic.  The  oflSce  of  i^ublic  prayer — and 
by  giving  to  his  church  a  record  of  this  prayer 
our  Lord  has  made  it  public — is  not  to  teach  a 
system  of  theology,  but  to  deepen  the  springs  of 
spiritual  life,  by  leading  the  sympathetic  soul 
into  the  presence  of  God.  This  i^rayer  has  a 
twofold  aspect.  It  is  a  revelation  of  the  com- 
munings of  the  only  begotten  Son  with  the  Fa- 
ther ;  it  thus  presents  to  the  church  Christ  as 
the  Son  and  Intercessor,  pleading  for  his  church, 
and  shows  us  what  are  his  most  secret  and  sa- 
cred desires  for  us.  These  are  four  :  election 
out  of  the  world  and  preservation  from  its  evil ; 
sanctiflcation  and  consecration  unto  and  in  the 
truth  ;  the  perfect  unity  of  love,  in  God  and 
with  one  another ;  and  spiritual  appreciation  of 
and  participation  in  the  glory  of  the  Father  and 
the  Son  in  the  eternal  life.  But  since  we  are  all 
brought  through  Christ  into  the  adoption  of  the 
sons  of  God,  this  prayer  is  also  an  example  and 
inspiration  for  us.  It  is,  in  a  sense,  Christ's  sec- 
ond and  fuller  answer  to  the  request  of  his 
church  universal,  "Lord,  teach  us  how  to  pray." 
The  Lord's  prayer  is  given  at  the  outset  of  our 
Lord's  ministry  to  those  who  are  just  learning 
the  Fatherhood  of  God.  This  jjrayer  of  inter- 
cession is  given  at  the  close  of  our  Lord's  min- 
istry, to  those  that  had  learned  from  him  both 
what  were  their  own  wants  and  what  their 
heavenly  Father's  grace  had  provided  for  them. 
The  former  is  the  model  for  the  universal 
church,  young  and  old  in  Christian  experience  ; 
the  latter  is  an  mspiration  to  those  who,  through 
the  teachings  of  their  Lord,  have  come  into  fel- 
lowship with  God  and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  It 
is  not  without  significance  that  it  follows  close 
upon  the  teaching  tliat  Christ  is  the  vine  and  we 
are  the  branches,  that  we  see  the  Father  in  see- 
ing the  Son,  that  after  Christ  is  gone  and  is  seen 
no  more,  he  will  yet  be  really  present  and  spirit- 
ually perceived,  and  that  we  are  to  ask  in  his 
name  of  the  Father,  who  has  himself  loved  us. 
It  is  thus  the  Holy  of  Holies  to  which  the  pre- 
ceding instructions  have  been  as  outer  courts 
conducting  us.  The  key  to  its  true  interpreta- 
tion I  believe  will  be  found  in  two  facts  :  (1)  that 


it  immediately  j^recedes  and  is  a  spiritual  prepa- 
ration for  the  impending  Passion,  which  in  a 
measure  the  disciples  shared  with  their  Master ; 
and  (3)  the  only  glory  which  the  N.  T,  recog- 
nizes is  a  glory  of  character,  not  of  circumstance 
or  condition.  Thus  Christ's  prayer  here  is  that 
he  may  be  sustained  by  divine  grace  in  the  hour 
of  trial,  so  that  the  character  of  the  Father  may 
be  manifested  by  him  in  his  patient  fidelity  to  the 
end,  and  that,  through  his  example  and  his  Fa- 
ther's influence,  his  disciples  may  be  made  like 
the  Father  and  like  the  Son  in  the  glory  of  their 
love.     See  further  on  ver.  1. 

There  is  some  question  whether  we  have  the 
exact  words  of  the  Lord  or  no.  Alford  goes 
beyond  the  declaration  or  even  clear  implication 
of  the  sacred  narrative,  in  saying,  in  opposition 
to  Olshausen  and  the  German  commentators 
generally,  that  we  have  here  "  the  very  words  of 
our  Lord  himself,  faithfully  rendered  by  the 
beloved  apostle,  in  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit."  We  can  only  say  that  the  Lord  has  just 
promised  his  disciples  that  the  Holy  Spirit  will 
bring  all  things  to  their  remembrance  which  he 
has  said  to  them  (ch.  i4  :  26) ;  that  on  no  heart 
would  these  sacred  words  be  more  deeply  im- 
pressed than  on  that  of  the  apostle  who  was 
leaning  on  Jesus'  bosom  at  the  supper ;  that  we 
cannot  conceive  any  utterance  in  the  rendering 
of  which  that  promised  inspiration  would  be 
more  likely  to  be  sought  by  John  and  vouch- 
safed by  the  Lord ;  and  that  if  we  cannot  be 
sure  that  we  have  the  very  words  of  our  Lord, 
we  can  be  sure  that  no  modem  commentator  has 
the  right  to  sift  out  the  prayer  and  tell  us  what 
were  Christ's  words  and  what  were  the  Evan- 
gelist's. That  the  Holy  Spirit  did  not  consider 
the  very  words  essential  to  our  profit  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that,  while  the  prayer  was  almost 
certainly  in  Hebrew,  John's  record  is  in  Greek, 
and  our  version  of  it  is  in  English  ;  but  that  we 
have  in  these  words  the  very  spirit  of  the  prayer, 
expressed  as  the  Holy  Spirit  would  have  it  ex- 
pressed for  the  guidance  and  inspiration  of  the 
church  universal,  is  as  certain  as  the  doctrine  of 
inspiration  itself. 

1-3.  And  lifted  up  his  eyes  to  heaven. 
See  ch.  11  :  41,  note.  This  is  not  an  indication 
that  he  and  his  disciples  had  gone  out  from  the 
chamber  and  were  now  in  the  environs  of  the 
city,  though  Godet  even  undertakes  to  fix  the 
exact  location :  "Jesus  had  spoken  the  preced- 


Ch.  XVIL] 


JOHN. 


203 


ing  words  on  the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Geth- 
semaue  ;  he  was  therefore  on  the  point  of  passing 
the  brook  of  Kedron."  In  fact,  these  words 
indicate  nothing  as  to  locality.  "  The  eyes  may 
be  lifted  to  heaven  in  as  well  as  out  of  doors ; 
heaven  is  not  the  »ky,  but  the  upper  region, 
above  our  o^\^l  being  and  thoughts,  where  we 
all  agree  in  believing  God  to  be  especially  pres- 
ent, and  which  we  indicate  when  we  direct  our 
eyes  or  our  hands  upward.  The  Lord,  being  in 
all  such  things  like  as  we  are,  lifted  up  his  eyes 
to  heaven  when  addressing  the  Father." — (Al- 
ford.) — And  said,  Father.  Not  our  Father, 
for  Christ  never  identifies  himself  with  his  disci- 
ples ;  nor  my  Father,  for  that  would  too  strongly 
emphasize  the  separation  between  him  and 
them  ;  Avithout  identifying  himself  with  his  dis- 
ciples, he  yet  uses  language  on  which  their 
spirits  too  can  ascend  towards  God. — The  hour 
is  come.  The  hour  of  the  Passion,  to  which 
all  prophecy  had  pointed,  for  which  all  the  0.  T. 
dispensation  had  prepared,  and  from  which  all 
redemptive  influences  proceed.  Comp.  Matt. 
26  :  4.5  ;  Mark  U:41;  John  7  :  30 ;  8  :  20,  etc.— 
Manifest  thine  own  Son  in  his  glory,  that 
thy  Son  also  may  manifest  thee  in  thy 
glory.  The  changed  position  of  the  words,  in 
the  two  clauses,  in  the  original  (aoi  rov  vii)r  in  the 
first  clause,  vi6?  aoi  in  the  second),  justifies  the 
rendering  thine  own  Son.  To  glorify  {fiuiulm)  in 
N.  T.  usage  nearly  if  not  quite  always  signifies 
to  man  f est  g\ory .  The  authorities  which  Robin- 
son {Lex.,  Jii^'u,"[u)  cites  in  justification  of  the 
definition  to  make  glorious  are  at  best  of  doubtful 
interpretation.  The  glory  of  Christ  is  his  self- 
sacrificing  love.  The  noblest  manifestation  of 
this  glory  is  his  patient  and  peaceful  endurance 
of  the  Passion.  In  the  cross  of  Christ  alone 
would  Paul  glory  (Gal.  6 :  ») ;  it  is  the  Lamb  slain 
that  is  the  glory  of  heaven  (Rev.  5  : 6).  Christ 
here  prays  that  the  Father  will  so  enable  him  to 
endure  the  cross  that  it  may  become  glorious, 
and  so  a  manifestation  of  the  Father's  glory  ;  it 
is  Jesus  Christ  "  lifted  up  "  who  draws  all  men 
unto  him,  and  this  in  order  that  through  him 
they  may  be  drawn  to  the  Father.  He  prays 
that  every  knee  may  bow  and  every  tongue  con- 
fess him  Lord,  but  only  to  the  glory  of  God  the 
Father  (Phii.  2  :  n).  Throughout  this  prayer  the 
thought  is  always  the  same  ;  glory  is  of  charac- 
ter, not  condition ;  the  glory  of  a  divine  love 
manifested  in  self-sacrifice ;  making  the  Son 
worthy  to  receive  the  peculiar  love  of  the  Fa- 
ther ;  making  all  that,  through  Christ,  become 
partakers  of  the  same  divine  nature,  participators 
also  in  the  same  divine  love,  sons  of  God,  and 
therefore  one  with  the  Father  and  with  his  Son. 
— Inasmuch  as  thou  hast  sriven  him  power 
over  all  flesh,  in  order  that  (for  the  very 
purpose  that)  unto  the  all  which  thou  hast 


given  to  him,  to  them  he  should  give 
eternal  litie.  Maurice's  criticism  on  our  Eng- 
lish version  is  just:  "Our  translators  would 
have  appeared  to  themselves  and  to  many  of 
their  readers  to  be  using  an  uncouth  and  strange 
form  of  speech,  if  they  had  rendered  the  words 
literally.  But  I  think  they  were  bound  to  en- 
counter any  apparent  difficulty  of  construction, 
rather  than  to  mcur  the  risk  of  contracting  or 
perverting  the  sense."  Christ  has  authority  (the 
original  implies  both  [tower  and  authority ;  see 
ch.  1  :  12,  note)  not  merely  over  all  mankind,  but 
over  all  terrestrial  life  and  the  earth  itself,  the 
abode  of  flesh  and  the  realm  of  his  redemptive 
work  (coi.  1  :  u-is) ;  but  this  authority  and  power 
is  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Father  (ih.  5 :  19,  so) 
for  a  purpose,  namely,  that  out  of  the  world  he 
may  gather  a  kingdom,  receiving  the  entire  body 
which  God  has  given  to  him,  and  conferring  on 
each  individually,  in  that  body,  eternal  life. 
Thus  here,  as  in  ch.  G  :  .37  (see  note  there),  Christ 
speaks  of  the  all  {ndv,  neuter  singular)  as  given 
to  him  in  a  body  by  the  Father,  but  of  each  one 
as  receiving  individually  (uirJu-,  masculine  plu- 
ral) the  special,  personal  gift  of  eternal  life. 
Observe  on  the  one  hand  that  Christ  declares 
himself,  by  implication,  Lord  of  all,  not  of  Jews, 
or  elect,  or  Christendom  merely ;  but  on  the 
other  hand  be  also  declares,  by  implication,  that 
not  aU  will  receive  from  him  the  gift  of  life  eter- 
nal. There  is  implied  a  redemption  universal  in 
its  ofEer,  but  not  in  its  results.  The  icliolc  is 
given  to  him,  but  only  that  he  may  impart  eter- 
nal life  to  the  chosen.  Who  are  thus  chosen  is 
indicated  in  ch.  6  :  40,  namely,  every  one  that 
seeth  (spiritually)  the  Son  and  hath  faith  in  him. 
Because  the  Father  has  thus  conferred  divine 
authority  on  the  Son,  for  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion, the  Son  pleads  with  the  Father  to  so  carry 
him  through  the  Passion  hour  that  this  redemp- 
tive work  may  be  consummated  and  eternal  life 
imparted  to  the  believer.  Beware  of  reading 
eternal  life  here  as  equivalent  to  everlasting  life  or 
age-abiding  life.  The  duration  is  merely  inciden- 
tal ;  spiritual  life  is  evei'lasting ;  but  that  which 
is  essential  is  its  spirituality,  not  its  endurance. 
The  nature  of  this  life  is  indicated  in  the  next 
sentence. — But  this  is  eternal  life,  that  they 
may  know  thee  the  only  true  God,  and 
him  whom  thou  hast  sent  forth,  Jesus  the 
Messiah.  That  (i'i«)  cannot  here  be  rendered 
in  order  that,  and  curiously  both  Alford  and 
Meyer,  who  insist  that  it  is  always  telic,  i.  e.,  al- 
ways signifies  intention,  here  render  it  without 
that  signification.  "This  knowledge  of  God 
here  desired  i^  the  eternal  life"  {Meyer);  '■"is, 
not  is  the  way  to"  {Alford).  Spiritual  knowl- 
edge and  spiritual  life  are  in  so  far  the  same  that 
neither  is  possible  without  the  other.  We  be- 
come like  God  only  as  we  know  him  (2  Cor.  3  :  18 ; 


204 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XVII. 


4  I  p  have  glorified  thee  on  the  earth :  1 1  have  fin- 
ished the  work  which  thou  gavest  me  to  do. 

5  And  now,  O  Father,  glorify  thou  me,  with  thine 
own  self,  with  the  glory  which  I  ■■  had  with  thee  before 
the  world  was. 


6  1^  have  manifested  thy  name  unto  the  men  which 
thou '  gavest  me  out  of  the  world  :  thine  they  were, 
and  thou  gavest  them  me ;  and  they  have  kept  thy » 
word. 


p  ch.  14  :  13.   ..qch.  19  :  30;  2  Tiu).  4  :  7.. 


1  John  3:2);  we  know  him  only  as,  becoming  like 
liim,  we  become  sharers  of  his  life  (Matt.  6:8;  John 

3:3;    Heb.  12  :  U  ;    2  Pet.  1  :  5-9).       For   this    knowledge 

{yiYvoJaxo))  is  not  intellectual  understanding  of 
the  truth  about  God,  but  a  personal  and  spirit- 
ual acquaintance  with  him ;  it  is  not  psychologi- 
cal, but  sympathetic.  See  Jer.  9  :  24;  Ephes. 
3  :  19 ;  Phil.  3  :  10 ;  comp.  1  Cor.  8  :  3.  The  con- 
necting particles  are  important.  Christ  prays 
that  the  Father  will  glorify  him  in  the  approach- 
ing Passion,  in  order  that  he  may  be  able  to  give 
eternal  life  to  those  whom  the  Father  has  given 
to  him,  for  this  life  can  be  given  only  by  giving 
them  a  true  apprehension  of  the  one  God,  and 
he  can  be  made  known  to  them  only  through 
him  whom  he  hath  sent  into  the  world,  Jesus 
the  Messiah.  The  knowledge  of  the  only  true 
God  is  in  contrast  with  polytheistic  paganism ; 
knowledge  of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah  is  in  contrast 
with  Jewish  pride  and  prejudice.  The  first  was 
the  burden  of  Paul's  preaching  at  Athens ;  the 
second  of  Peter's  preaching  at  Jerusalem  (Acts 
2 :  22-36 ;  11 :  22-34).  The  usc  of  the  third  person 
here,  and  the  phrase  Jesus  Christ,  often  found 
together  in  the  Epistles,  but  never  in  Christ's 
previous  discourses,  have  been  cited  by  ration- 
alistic critics  as  an  evidence  that  this  prayer  was 
the  work  of  a  later  writer,  who  with  doubtful 
dramatic  license  put  it  into  the  mouth  of  Christ. 
The  answer  is  (1)  that  the  time  had  now  come 
for  Jesus  to  declare  in  unmistakable  language 
his  Messiahship,  and  that  no  more  natural  or 
suitable  form  could  be  employed  than  that  of 
such  a  prayer  ;  (2)  that  the  very  fact  that  the 
names  appear  so  frequently  in  conjunction  in 
the  Apostolic  writings,  and  in  the  early  church, 
is  itself  a  reason  for  believing  that  the  apostles 
derived  them  from  their  Master. 

4,  5.  I  have  manifested  thy  glory  on  the 
earth:  I  have  finished  the  Avork  which 
thou  gavest  me  to  do.  By  anticipation  Christ 
regards  that  as  consummated,  the  consumma- 
tion of  which  is  so  near  at  hand.  In  fact,  not 
the  least  part  of  his  work  was  the  endurance  of 
the  Passion  of  the  next  twenty- four  hours. 
Comp.  Paul  in  2  Tim.  4:7,  "I  have  finished  my 
course,"  etc. — And  now  glorify  thou  me,  O 
Father,  with  thyself,  Avith  that  glory 
which  I  have  always  had  with  thee  be- 
fore the  world  was.  That  is.  Manifest  my 
glory  in  and  with  thee,  that  glory  which  I  have 
always   possessed.      The    word    glorify   is    used 


throughout  this  prayer,  I  believe,  always  with 
the  one  signification,  viz.,  to  show  forth  glory, 
not  to  confer  it  (see  on  ver.  I),  and  that  the  glory  of 
inherent  character,  not  of  circumstance  or  con- 
dition. /  have  had  (f(/oi,  imperfect)  is,  as  above 
rendered,  equivalent  to  always  or  habitually  had. 
The  language  before  the  world  was  clearly  im- 
plies Christ's  pre-existence  with  the  Father 
from  the  creation  of  the  world.  It  is  not,  and 
by  no  candid  interpretation  can  be  made,  the 
language  of  a  merely  human  experience.  God 
is  said  to  have  chosen  his  saints  (Ephes.  i  :  4),  but 
not  to  have  loved  and  glorified  them,  from  be- 
fore the  beginning  of  the  world ;  but  Christ's 
grace  was  prepared  and  his  glory  was  manifested 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world  (coi.  1  :  17; 
2  Tim.  1:9;  Titus  1 : 2).  Christ  dcclarcs  that  he  has 
manifested  the  glory  of  the  Father  by  the  ful- 
filling of  the  Father's  work  thus  far ;  and  he 
prays  the  Father  to  remember  the  glory  of  love 
which  bound  the  Son  and  the  Father  together 
in  the  eternal  life  of  the  past,  and  to  so  sustain 
him  in  the  trying  experiences  of  the  present, 
that  this  divine  glory,  which  he  has  had  with  the 
Father  from  before  the  beginning  of  the  world, 
may  be  made  manifest. 

6.  Christ  here  passes  from  the  prayer  for  him- 
self to  the  intercessory  prayer  for  his  disciples, 
with  whom,  by  the  request  in  ver.  20,  he  includes 
all  who  have  faith  in  him,  through  all  time. — 
I  have  manifested  thy  name  unto  the  men 
whom  thou  entrusted  to  me  out  of  the 
Avorld.  Thine  they  were,  and  thou  en- 
trusted them  to  me;  and  they  have  guard- 
ed thy  teaching.  To  manifest  is  literally  to 
cause  to  shine  {(panqijisi.  from  (paLvu).  The  name 
that  was  enveloped  in  darkness,  of  him  whom  no 
one  by  searching  can  find  out,  who  was,  and 
apart  from  Christ  ever  is,  the  unknown  and  un- 
knowable, Christ  has  made  to  shine  forth  out  of 
the  darkness.  The  7ianie  represents  all  that 
which  lies  back  of  and  gives  meaning  to  the 
name,  here  the  power  and  character  of  God.  See 
Matt.  28  :  19,  note.  Especially  his  name  of  Father 
Christ  has  made  to  shine  out  upon  a  before  or- 
phaned world,  both  by  manifesting  in  himself 
the  character  of  God  the  Father,  and  by  his  life, 
and  notably  by  this  prayer,  manifesting  also  the ' 
relation  which  may  and  should  subsist  between 
the   children  and  the  Father  to  whom  Christ 

gives  access  (Rom.  5:2;  Ephes.  2  :  18  ;  3  :  12).      The  Verb 

rendered  gave,  here  and  below  (dldwui),  is  equally 


Ch.  XVIL] 


JOHN. 


205 


7  Now  they  have  known  that  all  things  whatsoever 
thou  hast  given  me  are  of  thee. 

8  For  1  have  given  unto  them  the  words "  which 


thou  gavest  me :  and  they  have  received  them^  and 
have  known  surely  that  I  came  out  from  thee,  and  they 
have  believed  that  thou  didst  send  me. 


capable  of  being  rendered  entrusted  or  committed 
{Sob.  Lex.).  This  is  clearly  its  meaning  in  Matt. 
16  :  19 ;  25  :  15 ;  John  5  :  22  ;  and  I  think  repre- 
sents the  meaning  here  and  in  John  10  :  29  better 
than  the  word  gare.  The  Father  entrusts  his 
children  to  the  guardian  keeping  of  his  Son,  but 
will  at  the  end  receive  them  again  unto  himself 
■when  the  Son  delivers  up  the  kingdom  to  God, 
even  the  Father  (i  cor.  is :  24).  They  were  the 
Father's  (thine)  before  they  were  entrusted  to 
the  Son,  not  because  they  were  Israelites ;  for 
Christ  includes  all,  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews,  in 
this  prayer,  and  elsewhere  makes  it  clear  that  he 
does  not  regard  any  one  as  of  God  because  de- 
scended   from    Abraham    (ch.  8  :  S?,  39,  40 ;   comp.  Luke 

3:8);  nor  because  they  were  chosen  by  God  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world ;  for  there  is  no 
distinct  declaration  nor  any  necessajy  implication 
of  election,  either  absolute  or  conditional,  here. 
The  disciple  of  Christ  is  the  Father's,  because  lie 
is  born  from  above,  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  before 
he  can  see  the  kingdom  of  God,  certainly  there- 
fore before  by  faith  he  can  enter  it.  Thus  he  is 
of  the  Father  before  he  hears  Christ's  voice ;  he 
is  given  by  the  Father  to  the  Son  before  he  comes 
to  the  Son  ( JoUu  3:5;  6 :  37,  44 ;  8 : 4?).  Teaching  or 
ivord  (/.o)(j;),  a  different  Greek  word  from  that 
rendered  ivords  in  ver.  8,  indicates  the  whole 
system  of  divine  truth  entrusted  by  the  Father 
to  Christ  and  by  him  taught  to  his  disciples,  and 
pre-eminently  that  truth  of  God  which  was  em- 
bodied in  the  Son's  life  and  death  even  more 
than  in  his  verbal  instructions  (ch.  i  -.u;  12 :  48,  49). 
It  is  called  the  Father's  wo)-d  or  teaching  because 
the  words  of  Christ  were  not  his,  but  the  Fa- 
ther's (ch.  14  :  24).  To  keep  (ri;otw)  is  to  guard 
watchfully,  as  one  guards  a  prisoner ;  it  there- 
fore includes  the  idea  both  of  watchful  attention 
to  the  word  and  solicitude  to  preserve  it  by  obe- 
dience in  the  life  and  heart  (ch.  s :  51,  note).  Christ 
then  declares  that  he  has  made  luminous  the 
name  of  God,  by  interpreting  the  divine  Father- 
hood, not  to  the  whole  world,  but  to  those  se- 
lected out  of  the  world  and  entrusted  to  his 
guardian  keeping  ;  and  that  those  thus  entrusted 
to  him  by  the  Father,  to  whom  they  owe  the 
first  impulse  of  divine  life  that  sent  them  to 
Christ  for  light,  have  been  attentive  to  hear  and 
careful  to  preserve  the  instructions  they  have 
received  from  him.  In  the  succeeding  two  i 
verses  he  indicates  what  was  the  heart  of  this  1 
divine  instruction. 

7,  8.  Now.     Already  ;  the  word  is  emphatic,   j 
— They  know.     Assuredly  ktiow ;   the  perfect  . 


tense  has  the  present  signification,  but  indicates 
completed  knowledge ;  not  that  the  disciples 
were  perfect  in  knowledge  of  Christian  truth, 
but  they  were  fully  convinced  of  the  fundamen- 
tal truth  of  Christianity,  viz.,  that  it  is  a  divine 
revelation,  not  an  earth-born  and  human  philoso- 
phy. —  Thai  all  things  whatsoever  thou 
hast  entrusted  to  me  are  bestowed  by 
thee.  Are  of  thee  (ttuiju  aov  ionx)  signifies  be- 
stowed by  thee;  the  former  is  the  more  literal, 
the  latter  is  the  truer  translation,  because  it 
renders  the  G  reek  idiom  into  its  English  equiva- 
lent (see  Rob.  Lex.,  natiu.  I  :  2).  Christianity  is 
aryZ/Y  of  the  Father  through  Christ.— That  the 
ivords  which  thou  hast  entrusted  to  me  I 
have  entrusted  to  them.  This  clause,  like 
the  preceding  one,  is  dependent  on  the  first 
clause ;  the  disciples  have  assuredly  known  that 
whatsoever  truths  are  possessed  by  Christ  came 
from  the  Father,  and  that  whatsoever  the  Father 
has  entrusted  to  him  he  has  in  turn  entrusted  to 
them,  keeping  nothing  back  for  fear  or  favor. 
Comp.  Acts  20  :  20,  27.  I  see  no  reason  for  trans- 
lating the  same  Greek  particle  (on)  that  in  ver. 
7,  for  or  because  in  ver.  8,  first  clause,  and  that 
again  in  the  last  clause  of  the  same  verse.  Christ 
before  spoke  of  doctrine  or  teaching  (/.dyoc),  i.  e., 
the  system  as  a  whole  ;  he  now  speaks  of  words 
{^I'lliu),  thus  emphasizing  the  truth  that  each 
specific  word  in  his  teaching,  whether  of  prom- 
ise, commandment,  or  instruction,  is  from  the 
Father.  These  words  were  entrusted  by  the 
Father  to  Christ,  and  now  that  Christ  is  about 
to  leave  his  disciples  he  entrusts  these  words  in 
turn  to  them,  sending  them  forth,  as  he  himself 
was  sent  forth,  to  teach  only  what  they  are  com- 
manded. See  ver.  18  ;  Matt.  28  :  20.  He  does  not 
merely  give  these  words  to  us  for  our  own  be- 
hoof ;  he  entrusts  them  to  us  to  be  used  for 
others. — And  they  have  received  (not  them, 
an  addition  by  the  translators  which  the  context 
does  not  warrant),  and  known  assuredly 
that  from  thee  I  came  forth.  They  have 
just  declared  their  reception  of  this  central  truth 
of  Christianity,  that  Jesus  Christ  came  forth 
from  the  Father  (ch.  16 :  29, 30).  They  not  only 
have  known  that  Christ  has  taught  only  what  the 
Father  imparted  to  him,  i.  e.,  is  a  teacher  sent 
from  God  (ch.  3 : 2,  note),  but  they  have  gone  on 
from  this  knoivledge  to  the  spiritual  reception  by 
faith  of  the  trath  that  Christ  himself  has  come 
forth  from  the  Father.  Their  faith  has  laid  hold 
on  not  only  his  divine  teaching,  but  also  his  di- 
vine character.     Whosoever  begins  by  accepting 


206 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XVII. 


9  1  pray  for  them  :  I  pray  not  for  the  world,"  but 
for  them  which  thou  hast  given  me  •  for  they  are  thine. 

10  And  all  mine  '^  are  thme,  and  thine  are  mine  ;  and 
I  y  am  glorified  in  them. 


II  And  now  I  am  no  more  in  the  world,  but  these 
are  in  the  world,  and  I  come  to  thee.  Holy  Father, 
keep  ^  through  thine  own  name  ="  those  whom  thou  hast 
given  me,  that  they  may  be  one,  as  we  are. 


w  1  John  5  :  19  ...»  X  ch.  16  :  15  ....  y  Gal.  1  :  24 ;  1  Pet.  2  :  9  ....  z  1  Pet.  1:5;  Jude  1  :  24 ....  a  Prov.  18  :  10. 


Christ  as  a  divine  and  authoritative  teacher,  and 
holds  fast  to  that  faith,  grows  into  the  experi- 
ence of  continuous  acceptance  of  him  in  his  per- 
son and  character  as  a  manifestation  of  the 
Father  from  whom  not  only  the  words,  but  he 
himself,  came  forth.— And  have  had  faith 
that  thou  didst  send  me.  "  That  I  came  out 
from  thee  is  more  a  matter  of  conviction  from 
inference,  hence  they  have  known;  whereas  the 
other  side  of  the  same  truth,  thou  hast  sent  me 
forth,  the  act  of  the  Father  unseen  by  us,  is 
more  a  matter  of  pure  faith,  hence  tliey  have  had 
faith."— (Alford. ) 

9,  10.  I  am  praying  for  them  ;  I  am  not 
praying  for  the  Avorld.  It  is  monstrous  ex- 
egesis to  conclude  from  this  that  Christ  never 
prays  for  the  world ;  he  simply  says,  I  am  not 
now  praying  for  the  world,  but  for  my  own  dis- 
ciples. He  enjoined  on  his  followers  to  pray  for 
the  unbelieving  (Matt.  5 :  44) ;  he  prayed  upon  the 
cross  for  them,  "Father,  forgive  them,  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do  "  (Luke  23 :  34) ;  in  this  very 
prayer,  in  ver.  23,  he  prays  "That  the  world 
may  know  that  thou  hast  sent  me,"  etc.  The 
tense  here  is  present,  and  the  above  translation 
accurately  represents  the  original.  In  asking  for 
those  who  have  accepted  him  as  a  manifestation 
of  the  glory  of  the  Father,  that  they  may  be  kept 
even  unto  the  end,  he  is  praying  for  his  own. 
"  The  most  he  asked  for  the  world  is  that  it  may 
be  converted,  not  that  it  may  be  sanctified  or 
kept." — (Luther.)  To  the  same  effect  are  Godet, 
Alford,  Meyer,  and  the  modern  commentators 
generally. — But  for  those  whom  thou  hast 
entrusted  to  me;  for  they  are  thine;  and 
mine  all  are  thine,  and  thine  mine,  and 
my  glory  is  manifested  in  them.  All  is 
emphatic  ;  the  only  begotten  Son  has  nothing  in 
reserve  from  the  Father.  What  Luther  says  is 
true  :  "  Any  man  may  say.  What  is  mine  is  thine, 
but  only  the  Son  can  say.  What  is  thine  is  mine  ; " 
nevertheless  there  are  few  that  can  utter  with 
the  whole  heart,  and  without  any  reserve,  even 
the  first  clause,  "Mine  all  are  thine."  Christ 
pleads  for  his  own  on  two  grounds :  (1)  They 
are  the  Father's  in  the  ownership  of  love  ;  thus 
the  covenant  mercy  of  God  for  his  own  is  plead 
as  one  ground  of  intercession.  Comp.  Ps.  .51 : 1 ; 
69  :  13,  16.  (2)  They  are  entrusted  to  the  Son's 
safe- keeping,  and  their  preservation  and  sancti- 
fication  will  manifest  the  Son's  glory,  i.  e.,  the 
glory  of  his  redeeming  love  and  power ;  thus  the 
Father's  love  for  the  Son  is  plead  as  a  second 


ground  of  intercession.  Thus  also  his  example 
indicates  what  it  is  to  pray  to  the  Father  in  the 
name  of  the  Son,  viz.,  in  order  that  his  glory  of 
redeeming  love  may  be  manifested.  While  this 
declaration,  "  Mine  all  are  thine  and  thine  mine," 
is  to  be  taken  in  its  more  comprehensive  sense, 
as  indicating  the  unity  of  the  Son  and  the  Father 
in  all  things,  yet  the  context  gives  a  pecuhar  and 
spiritual  significance  to  it.  All  that  come  to 
Christ  by  faith,  so  becoming  his,  are  born  from 
above  and  are  the  children  of  God ;  and  all  that 
are  truly  born  from  above  and  are  the  children 
of  God  come  to  Christ  by  faith,  and  so  become 

his  (ch.  6  :  44,  45  ;  8  :  42,  47). 

11,  12.  And  now  I  am  no  more  in  the 
world,  and  these  are  in  the  world,  and  I 
am  coming  to  thee.  An  additional  plea  for 
those  whom  he  is  leaving  behind.  He  can  no 
longer  be  with  them,  their  guide  and  guardian  ; 
therefore  he  pleads  for  the  guidance  and  the 
guardianship  of  the  Father. — O  Holy  Father, 
guard  them  in  that  name  of  thine  which 
thou  hast  entrusted  to  me,  in  order  that 
they  may  be  one  in  like  manner  as  we 
are.  There  is  some  uncertainty  as  to  the  read- 
ing ;  {(),  oi'^,  and  oj  are  all  found  in  MSS.)  Some 
manuscripts  give  authority  for  our  EngUsh  ver- 
sion. Keep  those  whom  thou  hast  entrusted  to  rne ; 
others  give  as  above,  Kee^  those  in  thy  name  ivhich 
thou  hast  entrusted  to  me.  The  latter  is  sustained 
by  the  best  critics  {Alford,  Meyer,  Bengel,  Groes- 
bdck,  Tischendorf).  Every  word  in  this  sentence 
is  weighty.  The  meaning  of  holy  is  pure,  clean, 
without  blemish.  The  divine  holiness  is  ever 
going  out  of  itself,  imparting  of  itself  to  others, 
aiming  to  make  all  other  natures  holy  ;  thus  by 
the  appellation  Holy  Father  Christ  appeals  to  the 
cleansing  nature  of  the  Father.  To  keep  is  to 
guard  with  watchful  care.  See  above  on  ver.  6, 
1)1  (ti)  is  instrumental ;  as  the  life  of  the  flower 
is  preserved  ifi  the  sunshine,  so  the  life  of  the 
soul  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  in  whom  we  live 
and  move  and  have  our  being.  The  natne  stands 
here,  as  above  (ver.  e),  for  all  which  that  name 
represents  :  the  paternal  God.  This  name  wa& 
not  giveti  to  Christ,  he  does  not  bear  it ;  but  it 
was  entrusted  to  Christ,  that  he  might  manifest 
it  to  his  disciples,  by  teaching  them  the  Father- 
hood of  God  ;  and  it  is  to  this  name  that  Christ 
commends  his  disciples,  for  it  is  by  faith  in  this 
name,  i.  e.,  in  the  essential  fatherly  character  of 
God,  that  the  disciple  receives  the  spirit  of  adop- 
tion whereby  he  becomes  a  child  of  God  (Rom. 


Ch.  XVII.  ] 


JOHN. 


207 


12  While  I  was  with  them  in  the  world,  I  kept  them 
in  thy  name  :  those  that  thou  gavest  me  I  have  kept, 
and  none  of  them  is  lost,  but  the  son  of  perdition  ;  tliat 
the  scripture''  might  be  fultilled. 

13  And  now  come  I  to  thee ;  and  these  things  I 
speak  in  the  world,  that  they  might  have  my  joy  tul- 
filled  in  themselves. 


14  I  have  given  them  thy  word;  and  the  world  "^ 
hath  hated  them,  because  tney  are  not  of  the  world, 
even  as  I  am  not  of  the  world. 

15  I  pray  not  that  thou  shouldest  take  them  out  of 
the  world,  but*"  that  thou  shouldest  keep  them  from 
the  evil. 

16  They  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  I  am  not  of 
the  world. 


b  Ps.  109  :  8  ;  Acts  1  :  20 c  ch.  15  :  18, 19 d  Gal.  1  :  4. 


8 :  15-n),  and  it  is  this  faith  in  his  Father's  holy 
keeping  which  is  a  shield  to  quench  all  the  fiery 
darts  of  the  wicked  (Ephes.  6 :  le).  In  order  that 
may  grammatically  express  either  the  object  for 
which  the  Father's  name  was  entrusted  to  Christ, 
or  the  object  of  the  holy  keeping  wliich  Christ 
seeks  for  his  disciples.  In  fact,  the  object  of  the 
manifestation  and  of  the  fatherly  guardianship 
is  the  same,  namely,  that  the  disciples  who  haye 
bj'  faith  received  that  name,  and  are  protected 
by  it,  may  become  partakers  of  the  divine  na- 
ture, and  so  become  one  with  the  Son  and  the 
Father,  not  onlj'  in  general  purpose,  but  in  all 
essential  elements  of  character  (neb.  12  :  lo;  2  Pet. 
1  t  4). — While  I  was  with  them  I  guarded 
them  in  that  name  of  thine  which  thou 
didst  entrust  to  me.  The  reading  here,  as 
above,  is  involved  in  some  uncertainty,  but  this 
is  the  better  reading.  The  words  in  the  uwld 
are  a  gloss,  and  are  needless. — And  I  pre- 
served them.  Our  English  version  obscures 
the  meaning  by  rendering  two  different  Greek 
words  (rijotcu  and  (^vkadUM)  by  the  same  English 
word  {keep)  in  this  and  the  preceding  verse. 
Christ  declares  above  that  he  has  kept  watch, 
here  that  this  watch  has  been  successful,  and 
that  he  has  j^i'^served  those  over  whom  he  has 
watched.  —  .4nd  no  one  of  them  has  de- 
stroyed himself.  This,  which  is  the  sense  of 
the  middle  voice  in  Greek,  it  is  important  to  pre- 
serve. "Christ  did  not  lose  Judas,  but  he  lost 
himself." — (Alford.)  But  the  language  implies 
that  every  one  might  have  destroyed  himself  but 
for  the  guardian  care  of  Christ. — Except  the 
son  of  destruction,  that  the  Scripture 
might  be  fulfilled.  See  John  13  :  18;  Acts 
1  :  20 ;  Ps.  41  :  9.  It  was  predetermined,  not 
that  one  who  might  have  been  saved  should  de- 
stroy himself  in  order  to  fulfill  prophecy,  but 
that  one  who  would  destroy  himself  should  be 
among  the  twelve.  Judas  was  not  lured  to  de- 
struction in  order  to  fulfill  prophecy,  but  pro- 
phecy was  fulfilled  in  his  self-destruction.  See 
ch.  19  :  28,  note.  "  Judas  fell  that  the  Scripture 
might  be  fulfilled.  But  it  would  be  a  most  un- 
founded argument  if  any  one  were  to  infer  from 
this  that  the  revolt  of  Juflas  ought  to  be  ascribed 
to  God  rather  than  to  himself,  because  the  pre- 
diction laid  him  under  a  necessity.  *  *  *  Nor 
was  it  the  design  of  Christ  to  transfer  to  Scrip- 
ture the  cause  of  the  ruin  of  Judas,  but  it  was 


only  intended  to  take  away  the  occasion  of  stum- 
bling by  showing  that  the  Spirit  of  God  had  long 
ago  testified  that  such  an  event  would  happen." 
— (Calvin.)  It  is  a  noticeable  fact  that  the  phrase 
S071  of  destruction,  here  employed  to  designate 
Judas,  is  employed  by  Paul  in  2  Thess.  3  :  3  to 
designate  the  Anti-Christ. 

13-lG.  But  now  I  am  coming  to  thee. 
and  therefore  can  no  longer  be  an  earthly  guar- 
dian. As  a  mother  dying  entrusts  her  children 
to  God,  so  Christ  his  disciples.  —  And  these 
things  I  speak  in  the  world  that  they  may 
have  my  joy  filled  to  overflowing  in  them- 
selves. TJiese  things  include  not  only  the  prayer 
now  offered  for  the  disciples,  but  also  the  whole 
course  of  instruction  given  to  them  and  imme- 
diately preceding  the  prayer.  The  object  of 
both  instruction  and  prayer  is  the  same,  that  his 
disciples  may  be  brought  into  that  oneness  with 
the  Father,  that  life  in  him,  and  that  consequent 
consecration  to  his  will  and  service,  which  filled 
the  Son  with  an  abiding  peace  and  joy,  and  that 
so  they  might  be  filled  to  the  full  with  the  same 
joy.  See  ch.  14  :  37 ;  15  :  11,  notes.— I  have  en- 
trusted to  them  thy  teaching.  Not  given, 
but  entrusted.  See  above  on  ver.  6.  The  teach- 
ing which  the  Father  entrusted  to  the  Son,  the 
Son  in  turn  entrusted  primarily  to  the  apostles, 
secondarily  to  his  disciples  throughout  all  time, 
that  they  may  become  lights  of  the  world  as  he 
was  the  Light  of  the  world,  teachers  of  the  truth 
of  God  as  he  was  the  Great  Teacher  (Matt.  5 :  u ; 
Phil.  2 :  15).  That  this  is  the  meaning  is  indicated 
by  what  follows.  It  is  only  as  the  disciples  be- 
come, by  their  life  and  words,  teachers  of  the 
truth,  that  the  world  hates  them.— And  the 
world  has  hated  them,  because  they  are 
not  from  (ix)  the  Avorld,  in  like  manner  as 
I  am  not  from  the  world.  The  disciple  of 
Christ  is  born  from  above  (ch.  3:3;  oai.  6 :  15 ;  1  Pet. 
1  : 3),  and  thus  is  spiritually  like  his  Master  (ch. 
8 :  23).  The  origin  of  the  divine  life  in  Christ  and 
his  followers  is  the  same  ;  in  both  it  proceeds 
from  the  Father  —I  pray  not  that  thou 
shouldest  take  them  from  the  world,  but 
that  thou  shouldest  guard  them  from  the 
Evil  One.  Not  as  Norton  renders  it,  and  as 
our  English  version  implies,  from  what  is  evil, 
though  that  is  included  by  implication  ;  but  from 
the  Evil  One,  i.  e.,  Satan.  The  original  is,  in- 
deed, capable  of  either  meaning  ;  but  the  latter 


208 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XVII. 


17  Sanctify '  them  through  thy  truth:   thy  word'  is 
truth. 

18  As  thou  hast  sent  me  into  the  world,  even  so  have 
I  also  sent  them  into  the  world. 


19  And  e  for  their  sakes  I  sanctify  myself,  that  they 
also  might  be  sanctified  through  the  truth. 

20  Neither  pray  1  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also 
which  shall  believe  on  me  through  their  word  ; 


e  Act3  15  :  9 ;  Ephes.  5  :  26 ;  2  Thess.  2  :  13 f  Ps.  119  :  151 g  1  Cor.  1  :  2,  30. 


interpretation  agrees  best  with  John's  usage 
elsewhere.  See  1  John  3  :  13,  li ;  3  :  12 ;  5  :  IS. 
The  Evil  One  is  treated  by  Christ  as  the  source, 
or  at  least  the  representative,  of  all  that  is  evil, 
as  the  prince  of  the  kingdom  of  darkness  and 
sin.  Compare  Matt.  13  :  25,  38,  39,  where  the 
tares,  i.  e.,  the  children  of  the  wicked,  are  repre- 
sented as  sown  by  the  enemy,  *.  e.,  the  devil. 
If  Christ  does  not  desire  for  us  that  we  should 
be  taken  out  of  the  world,  we  are  not  to  desire 
it  for  ourselves.  Temporary  retreat  from  the 
world,  the  better  to  prepare  us  for  it,  is  legiti- 
mate ;  so  Christ  sometimes  retreated,  seeking 
strength  in  solitude  and  communion  with  His 
Father.  But  Christianity  is  not  asceticism.  The 
disciple  is  sent  into  the  world  that  he  may  be  a 
light  to  the  world,  and  the  measure  of  his  Chris- 
tian life  is  not  his  experience  in  hours  of  retire- 
ment from  it,  but  the  fidelity  of  his  life  in  it. 

17.  Consecrate  them  in  thy  truth;  thy 
teaching  is  truth.  The  original  (uyiuito)  may 
be  rendered  either  consecrate  or  sanctify.  It 
means  both  to  set  apart  from  a  common  to  a 
sacred  use,  and  also  to  make  holy  for  that  use  ; 
In  other  words,  it  may  mean  to  make  holy  in 
mission  or  in  character.  But  the  former  is  evi- 
dently the  meaning  here ;  for  it  cannot  be  said 
that  Christ  made  himself  holy  in  character  for 
the  sake  of  his  disciples  (ver.  19).  Christ  prays 
that  the  Father  will  set  apart  his  disciples  to  a 
life  of  divine  service,  as  priests  unto  God  (Rev. 
20 : 6).  This  consecration  of  the  disciple  involves 
his  sanctification ;  for  the  sinner  cannot  be  set 
apart  to  a  holy  work  while  yet  in  his  sins.  It 
does  not  involve  sanctification  in  the  Son,  because 
he  had  no  sins  to  be  cleansed  away.  This  conse- 
cration of  the  disciple  is  effected  both  by  im- 
parting to  him  through  the  Holy  Spirit  the  truth 
of  God  (ch.  14 :  as),  and  by  commissioning  him  to 
serve  that  truth  by  bearing  witness  of  it  unto 
others  (Matt.  28  :  20;  Acts  1  :  s).  Li  thy  truth  {iv,  da- 
tive) expresses  the  idea  that  the  truth  is  both 
the  instrument  by  which  and  the  service  to 
which  the  disciple  is  consecrated.  We  are  con- 
secrated unto  the  truth  as  we  live  in  the  truth  ; 
so  Samuel  was  consecrated  to  the  temple  by 
being  brought  while  yet  a  child  to  live  in  the 
temple.  Christ  designates  the  teaching  or  word 
which  he  has  imparted,  and  which  the  Holy 
Spirit  will  further  impart  to  his  disciples,  thy 
teaching,  because  all  that  comes  through  the  Son 
and  the  Spirit  comes  from  the  Father  (ch.  14  :  10 ; 

16  :  13). 


18,  19.  In  like  manner  as  thou  hast 
sent  me  into  the  world,  I  also  have  sent 
them  into  the  world.  Full  weight  is  to  be 
given  to  the  phrase  as,  i.  e.,  in  like  manner  as 
(zM>'Ui)-).  This  is  the  most  weighty  and  solemn 
declaration  of  the  mission  of  the  disciple,  I 
think,  in  the  N.  T.,  albeit  it  corresponds  with 
the  universal  teaching  of  both  Gospel  and  Epis- 
tle, viz.,  that  Christ  is  the  first-bora  among 
many  brethren,  and  that  those  who  are  his  disci- 
ples are  also  to  be  in  all  things  his  followers ; 
like  him  teacliers  of  the  truth ;  like  him  manifesting 
the  life  and  character  of  God  in  the  world,  by  the 
divine  life  begotten  in  them  from  above ;  like 
him  hearing  the  sins  of  other's  in  their  own  jicrson, 
and  so  filling  up  what  is  behind  of  the  sufferings 

of  Christ  (Phil.  3:10;    Col.  1  :  24 ;    1  Pet.  4  :  13).      Christ 

does  not  merely  leave  his  disciples  in  the  world, 
he  sends  them  into  it,  as  he  was  sent,  each  disci- 
ple to  be  in  his  narrower  sphere  a  saviour  of 
others,  and  the  whole  discipleship  to  be  the 
body  of  an  ever  living,  ever  incarnate,  ever 
teaching,  and  ever  atoning  Lord.  Thus,  too, 
not  only  because  they  are  left  alone,  but  yet  more 
because  they  are  sent  forth  to  complete  his  work, 
does  the  Son  ask  the  Father  to  be  to  them  what 
he  has  been  to  their  Lord  in  his  earthly  mission. 
— And  for  their  sakes  I  consecrate  my- 
self, in  order  that  they  also  might  be  con> 
secrated  in  the  truth.  As  above,  both  in, 
i.  e.,  by  means  of,  and  unto,  i.  e.,  to  serve  the 
cause  of  the  truth.  The  definite  article  is  want- 
ing, and  Meyer  reads  the  phrase  consecrated 
in  truth,  as  simply  equivalent  to  "truly  conse- 
crated"; but  the  other  interpretation  is  war- 
ranted by  Greek  usage,  and  better  accords  with 
the  context.  While  Christ  identifies  himself 
with  his  disciples  in  his  prayer  that  they  may 
become  one  with  him,  in  his  declaration  that 
they  are  in  the  spiritual  life  born  of  the  same 
divine  Father,  and  in  his  commission  to  them  to 
carry  out  his  work,  he  distinguishes  between 
himself  and  them  ;  for  he  consecrates  himself ; 
they  must  be  consecrated  by  a  higher  power. 
The  consecration  which  the  Lord  made  of  him- 
self was  not  made,  though  it  was  consummated, 
at  Calvary.  His  death  was  a  crowning  act,  not 
the  whole  act.  "Our  Lord  possessed  a  human 
nature  like  our  own,  endowed  with  inclinations 
and  dislikes  as  our  own  is,  though  of  such  only 
as  are  perfectly  lawful.  Of  this  nature  he  was 
continually  making  a  lioly  offering ;  he  con- 
strained it  to  obedience  ;  negatively  by  sacrific- 


Ch.  XVIL]  JOHN. 

21  That  they  all  may  be  one;"  as  thou,  Father,  art 
in  me,  and  1  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us: 
that  the  world  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me. 

22  And  the  glory'  whicli  thou  gavest  me  I  have 
given  them  ;  that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we  are  one  : 


209 


23  I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  made 
perfect  in  one ;  and  that  the  world  may  know  that 
thou  hast  sent  me,  and  hast  loved  them,  as  thou  hast 
loved  me. 


U  Rom.  12  :  5 ....  i  2  Cor.  3  :  18. 


ing  it  ^vhen  it  was  in  contradiction  with  his  mis- 
sion ;  positively  bj'  devoting  to  his  divinely 
appointed  task  all  his  powers,  all  his  natural  and 
spiritual  talents.  It  was  thus  that  '  He  by  the 
Eternal  Spirit  offered  himself  without  spot  unto 
God'  (Hcb.  9  :  u)." — {Oodet.)  So  also  substan- 
tially Calvin,  Alford,  Hengstenberg.  Comp. 
John  10  :  11,  note. 

20,  21 .  Not  for  these  ouly  am  I  praying, 
but  also  for  those  who  have  faith  upon 
me  through  their  teaching.  Thu  statement 
is  not  general,  I  am  accustomed  to  pray  for  be- 
lievers, but  special.  It  in  for  all  believers  that  I 
am  now  praijixg.  His  intercessory  prayer  is  for 
lis  no  less  than  for  them.— That  all  may  be 
one;  in  like  manner  as  thou.  Father,  in 
me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  also  they  in  us  one 
may  be ;  that  the  world  may  have  faith 
that  thou  hast  sent  me.  The  emphasis  of 
the  Greek  is  partially  represented  in  this  nearly 
literal  rendering.  Observe  the  close  connection 
with  what  has  gone  before.  The  burden  of 
Christ's  prayer  has  been  that  his  disciples  may 
he  preserved  in  the  world,  and  consecrated  for 
their  mission  as  truth-bearers  to  the  world ;  he 
now  adds,  I  ask  this  in  order  that  they  may  be 
one  in  us.  His  prayer  is  not  merely  that  they 
may  be  one,  but  that  they  may  be  consecrated  in 
and  to  the  truth,  so  that  they  may  become  one.  The 
implication  is  that  whenever  Christians  are  thor- 
oughly consecrated  to  the  service  of  Christ  all 
differences  so  disappear  that  they  work  together 
in  unity  of  the  spirit  and  of  faith  ;  and  this  truth 
history  abundantly  confirms.  This  unity  is  not 
in  creed,  ceremonial,  or  ecclesiastical  organiza- 
tion, but  in  the  Father  and  the  Son,  i.  c,  the 
unity  of  personal  devotion  to,  and  love  for,  and 
spiritual  communion  and  fellowship  with  the 
Father  and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  (1  joim  1 : 3).  This 
spiritual  union  in  and  with  God  will  finally  lead 
to  but  it  is  not  founded  on  unity  in  opinion.  It 
Is  a  union  that  is  apparent  as  well  as  real.  The 
world  will  see  it,  and  seeing  will  be  led  to  be- 
lieve that  the  Father  has  sent  the  Son,  /.  e.,  that 
Christianity  is  of  divine  origin,  so  marvellous 
will  seem  to  be  the  power  of  love  uniting  in  one 
kingdom  elements,  opinions,  and  nationalities  so 
diverse.  This  spiritual  unity  of  the  discipleship 
of  Christ  is  almost  the  consummation  of  Christ's 
prayer.  He  has  only  one  higher  request  to  prefer 
for  his  church,  namely,  that  through  this  unity 
in  him  and  the  Father  who  has  sent  him,  the 
church  may  come  to  a  true  spiritual  apprecia- 


tion of  the  Son's  eternal  glory  with  and  in  the 
Father  (ver.  24). 

22,  23.  And  the  glory  which  thou  gav- 
est me  I  have  given  them,  that  they  may 
be  one  in  like  manner  as  we  are  one.  / 
is  empliatic.  The  Father  has  given  glory  to  the 
Son ;  the  Son  makes  all  his  followers  participa- 
tors in  that  glory.  In  what  does  this  glory  con- 
sist? Not  in  the  power  of  working  miracles 
{Chrysostom),  for  this  he  has  not  given  to  all 
those  that  believe  in  his  name.  Not  the  glory 
of  the  heavenly  state  (Meyer),  for  this  he  will 
give,  but  had  not  given  to  his  disciples  when  he 
uttered  this  prayer.  Not  the  glory  of  unity  with 
the  Father  and  the  Son  (Hengstenberg),  for  the 
glory  is  given  in  order  that  this  unity  may  be 
attained  ;  this  unity  with  the  Godhead  is  not  the 
glory,  but  the  result  of  it.  The  glory  which  the 
Father  gave  the  Son  was  the  glory  of  being  the  Son 

of  God   (Matt.  3  :  17  ;   John  1  :  14  ;    Heb.  1:5;    3:6).      ThiS 

glory  Christ  imparts  to  his  followers,  who 
through  him  are  received  into  the  adoption  of 
God  by  faith,  and  become  themselves  sons  of 
God  (ch.  1  :  12 ;  1  John  3 :  i).  And  it  is  as  wc  bccome 
thus  sons  of  God  that  we  become  one  with  each 
other  because  one  in  him,  one  household  of  faith 
only  as  we  are  united  to  one  Father  (Rom.  8 :  29 ; 
Ephes.  1  :  10 ;  2 :  19).  This  glory  of  souship  involves 
not  only  filial  relations  with  the  Father,  but  the 
possession  of  a  divine  life  begotten  Ijy  the  Fa- 
ther, and  therefore  a  nature  akin  to  that  of  the 
Father,  who  is  love,  and  whose  cbUdren  we  are 

only  as  we  dwell  in  love  (l   John  3  :  9,  lO;    4:8,  16). — 

I.  in  them  and  thou  in  me.  And  therefore 
the  Father  in  them  through  the  Son,  by  whom 
they  have  access  to  the  Father. — That  they 
may  be  perfected  unto  unity.  This  unity 
of  love  with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  and  there- 
fore with  one  another,  is  the  culmination  of  the 
divine  life,  as  well  as  the  disclosure  of  it.  Comp. 
Ephes.  4  :  11-13:  "Till  we  aU  come  in  the 
unity  of  the  faith  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son 
of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man."'— In  order  that 
the  world  may  know  that  thou  hast  sent 
me  forth.  It  shall  no  longer  hare  faith  merely  ; 
it  shall  know  assuredly  the  divine  origin  and  au- 
thority of  the  Christian  religion,  and  this  convic- 
tion shall  be  compelled  by  the  moral  and  spirit- 
ual power  of  a  spiritually  united  church.— And 
that  thou  hast  loved  them  in  like  manner 
as  thou  hast  loved  me.  Comp.  ch.  16  :  27. 
With  a  love  not  merely  of  compassion,  but  now, 
all  quarrels  with  one  another  ended  because  all 


210 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XVIL 


24  Father,  I  \vill  that  they  also,  whom  thou  hast 

fiven  me,  be  J  with  me  where  I  am  ;  that  they  may  be- 
old  my  glory,  which  thou  hast  given  me  :  tor  thou 
lovedst  me  before  the  foundation  ot  the  world. 

25  O  righteous  Father,  the  world  hath  not  known 


thee :  but  I  have  known  thee,  and  these  have  known 
that  thou  hast  sent  me. 

26  And  I  have  declared  unto  them  thy  name,  and 
will  declare  it:  that  the  love  wherewith  thou  hast 
loved  me  may  be  in  them,  and  I  in  them. 


j  1  Thess.  4  :  17. 


separation  and  estrangement  from  God  are  at  an 
end,  with  a  love  of  cordial  approbation.  Then 
the  voice  shall  speak  to  the  universal  disciple- 
ship.  Behold  my  beloved  sons  in  whom  I  am  well 
pleased  ;  and  the  whole  world  shall  hear  and 
acknowledge  him  who  has  wrought  this  redemp- 
tion (Phil.  2  :  10  ;  Rom.  14  :  ll). 

24.  Father,  Avhom  thou  hast  entrusted 
to  nie,  I  will  that  where  I  am  they  also 

may  be.  (The  sense  is  the  same  whether  the 
reading  oj  or  qv:  be  adopted.)  Christ  changes  his 
expression  ;  he  no  longer  says  I  pray,  but  /  will. 
"He  demands  with  confidence  as  a  Son,  not  as  a 
servant." — {Bengel.)  There  are  two  Greek  verbs 
which  are  capable  of  being  rendered  /  will;  the 
one  (,:?oL';.oa«()  expresses  an  inclination,  the  other 
(liikw)  a  positive  purpose.  The  latter  is  the 
word  used  here.  It  might  justly  be  rendered  It 
is  my  ivill.  It  is  nowhere  else  used  by  Jesus. 
With  the  close  of  his  prayer  there  comes  such 
assurance  of  his  own  unity  with  the  Father  that 
he  no  longer  prefers  a  request ;  he  declares  his 
purpose.  In  this  declaration  of  his  purpose  he 
recurs  to  the  promise  which  he  had  made  at  the 
opening  of  this  most  sacred  interview,  "I  will 
come  again  and  receive  you  unto  myself,  that 
where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also  "  (ch.  u  :  3).  In 
this  expression  /  will,  Christ's  prayer  can  hardly 
be  a  model  for  his  followers.  We  may  say  to 
our  Father,  I  wish  ;  but  we  can  never  be  so  sure 
of  his  gracious  purposes  and  of  our  union  with 
him  in  them,  that  we  can  safely  say  to  him,  Fa- 
ther, I  will. — That  they  may  behold  my  glo- 
ry, which  thou  gavest  me,  because  thou 
lovedst  me  before  founding  a  world.  Ob- 
serve, not  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  but 
before  founding  any  world ;  the  definite  article  is 
not  in  the  original.  On  the  significance  of  this 
declaration  as  a  testimony  to  the  pre-existent 
glory  of  Christ,  see  on  ver.  5.  To  behold  {»itx>- 
Qiw)  is  primarUy  to  be  a  spectator  of,  and  in  its 
primary  signification  includes  the  idea  of  atten- 
tion, wonder,  admiration.  It  is,  however,  here 
used  certainly  of  spiritual  apprehension ;  we 
shall  be  filled  with  wonder  and  surprise  when 
the  veil  drops  from  our  eyes  and  we  see  him  as 
he  is.  The  glory  which  Christ  had  with  the 
Father  from  the  beginning  is  the  glory  of  the 
Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world 
(Rev.  1.3 : 8),  the  glory  of  a  character  whose  radi- 
ance is  infinite  love,  of  which  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ,  purposed  from  the  remote  past,  is  the 
highest    manifestation ;    and  this  is    the  glory 


which  the  saints,  redeemed  by  his  blood,  behold 
in  heaven  (Rev.  5:8;  7:9;  21  :  23).  Christ's  will, 
then,  for  his  disciples  is  that  they  may  be  so 
spiritually  exalted  that  they  may  be  able  to  ap- 
prehend the  full  glory  of  that  self-sacrificing 
love  which  now  they  look  upon  with  so  feeble 
appreciation,  and  which  to  the  unbelieving  world 
is  inglorious  (i  Cor.  i  :  23).  This  is  the  consumma- 
tion of  his  prayer ;  what  a  climax  in  what  an 
ascending  scale  !  First  that  his  disciples  may  be 
guarded  in  his  absence  by  the  divine  care  in 
which  he  himself  has  trusted  (11-13) ;  then  that, 
guarded  in  the  world,  they  may  be  consecrated 
to  their  Christly  mission,  to  teach,  to  manifest 
God,  to  sufEer  (15-19) ;  then  that,  with  all  believers, 
they  may  be  brought  into  spiritual  unity  with 
the  Father  and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  being  made 
sons  of  God,  and  so  sharers  in  the  glory  of  him 
whose  greatest  glory  it  was  and  is  to  be  the  well- 
beloved  Son  of  the  Father  (20-13) ;  and  finally 
that,  thus  preserved,  consecrated,  adopted,  they 
may  be  able  to  realize  the  glory  of  that  love  of 
self-sacrifice,  to  which  we  all  sometimes  find  it 
diflScult  even  to  submit  without  rebellion,  and 
in  which  only  the  most  consecrated  are  ever 
able  to  rejoice. 

25,  26.  O  righteous  Father.  Christ  first 
appealed  simply  to  the  Fatherhood  of  God  (ver.  1), 
then  to  his  holiness  (ver.  11),  now  at  last  even  to 
his  righteousness  or  justice.  For  since  the  Son 
has  finished  the  work  which  the  Father  gave 
him  to  do,  he  may  ask  of  righteousness  itself  to 
complete  it.  Thus  justice  and  purity  compete 
with  love  in  pleading  for  the  fulfillment  of  re- 
demption. So  in  1  John  1  :  9  it  is  said  that  "he 
is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins." — 
Though  (xai)  the  Avorld  has  not  known 
thee,  I  have  known  thee,  and  (aai)  these 
have  known  that  thou  hast  sent  me  forth. 
The  world,  the  Son,  and  the  disciples  stand  here 
in  a  triple  contrast ;  to  the  world  God  is  the 
absolute  unknown  ;  to  the  Son  he  is  known  ;  to 
the  disciples  God  is  manifested  in  the  Son,  who 
comes  forth  from  God  and  goes  to  God  again. — 
And  I  have  made  known  thy  name  to 
them,  and  will  make  it  known.  And  with 
the  name  all  that  the  name  represents — the  jus- 
tice, the  holiness,  and  pre-eminently  the  Father- 
hood. See  on  ver.  6.  These  words  attest  the 
consciousness  in  Christ  that  an  answer  has  been 
vouchsafed  to  his  prayer.  He  began  by  asking 
the  Father  to  glorify  the  Son,  that  the  Son 
might  glorify  the  Father.    He  closes  by  declar- 


Ch.  XVIIL] 


JOHN. 


211 


W 


CHAPTER    XVIIL 

HEN  Jesus  had  spoken  these  words,  he  went 
forth  with  his  disciples  over  the  brook  Cedron,'' 


where  was  a  garden,  into  the  which  he  entered,  and 
his  disciples. 

2  And  Judas  also,  which  betrayed  him,  knew  the 
place:  for  Jesus  ofttimes  resorted  thither  with  his  dis- 
ciples. 


k  2  Sam.  15  :  23. 


ing,  not  only  that  he  has  thus  far  made  known 
the  name  of  the  Father  (ver.  5),  but  that  hi  the 
impending  hour  of  passion  and  death  he  will 
make  the  Father  known,  and  so  will  glorify  him. 
It  is  true  that  the  whole  work  of  the  church  ever 
since,  and  of  Christ  in  his  church,  has  been  mak- 
ing known  the  name  of  the  Father ;  but  it  has 
been  by  interpreting  the  meaning  of  the  cross  of 
Christ,  by  preaching  Christ  and  him  crucified, 
as  the  wisdom  and  power  of  God  (Rom.  1 :  16;  1  cor. 
1 :  23, 24 ;  2 : 2).  Thus  this  prayer  ends,  as  it  began, 
with  an  implied  reference  to  the  impending  Pas- 
sion ;  but  it  begins  with  petition ;  it  ends  with 
assurance  of  victory. — In  order  that  the  love 
Avherewith  thou  hast  loved  me  may  be  in 
them,  and  I  in  them.  That  is,  both  that 
they  may  possess  an  experience  of  the  Father's 
love  for  them,  and  may  possess  a  love  like  the 
Father's,  being  made  perfect  in  love,  even  as 
their  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect  (Matt.  5 :  48) ;  so 
also  that  the  Spirit  of  Christ  may  dwell  in  them, 
and  that  by  this  indwelling  their  own  spirit  may 
be  conformed  unto  his  (2  cor.  3 :  is).  In  this  simple 
and  sublime  sentence  the  Son  embodies  the  ob- 
ject of  his  mission  as  the  Divine  Teacher,  the 
Divine  Revealer,  and  the  Divine  Sufferer.  The 
object  of  his  teaching,  incarnation,  and  atone- 
ment is  that  he  may  make  known  the  Father  to 
those  that  will  learn  of  his  Son  ;  and  this  that  he 
may  make  them  one  with  the  Father  and  his 
Son — one  in  spiritual  fellowship,  because  one  in 
spiritual  character. 

It  is  a  shallow  criticism  which  imagines  an  in- 
congruity between  this  prayer  recorded  by  John 
and  the  prayer  in  Gethsemane  which  immediately 
followed,  and  which  John  has  not  recorded. 
Here  Christ  asks  that  he  may  be  enabled  to  glo- 
rify the  Father's  name  to  the  end ;  there  he  asks 
that  the  same  results  may,  if  it  is  possible,  be 
accomplished  without  the  terrible  ordeal  of  the 
betrayal,  the  desertion,  the  mock  trials,  the 
mob,  the  crucifixion,  the  veiling  of  the  Father's 
face.  But  in  the  agony  of  Gethsemane,  as  por- 
trayed by  the  other  three  Evangelists,  the  Son 
never  for  a  moment  wavers  from  the  supreme 
wish  that  the  Father's  will  may  be  accompli.shed 
and  the  Father's  name  made  manifest.  The 
power,  not  merely  to  resign  himself  to  the  Fa- 
ther's will,  but  affirmatively  to  pray,  "Not  my 
will  but  thine  be  done,"  was  a  part  of  that  very 
glory  with  which  he  besought  the  Father  to  in- 
vest him.  The  devout  student  will  recognize  in 
the  prayer  of  Gethsemane  a  partial  answer  to  the 


prayer  in  the  upper  chamber ;  for  in  Gethsemane, 
no  less  than  in  the  court  of  Caiaphas,  the  judg- 
ment hall  of  Pilate,  and  the  death  on  Calvary, 
the  Father  glorified  the  Son  and  the  Son  glorified 
the  Father.  

Ch.  18  :  1-11.  The  Betrayal  and  Arrest 
OF  Jesus. — The  Divine  Majesty  of  Our  Lord 
Exemplified. — Narrated  by  all  the  Evangelists  : 
Matt.  26  :  47-56  ;  Mark  14  :  43-.53  ;  Luke  33  :  47-53. 
As  usual  where  tiie  four  Evangelists  narrate  the 
same  events,  John  gives  particulars  omitted  by 
the  others — the  falling  back  to  the  ground  of  the 
guard,  and  Christ's  interposition  for  the  disci- 
ples (ver.  6-9) — and  omits  events  recorded  by  the 
others — the  conference  between  Jesus  and  Ju- 
das, and  the  traitor's  kiss  (Matt.  26  :  49,  50  ;  Mark  14  :  44, 

45),  That  John  wrote  with  the  other  accounts 
before  him,  and  to  supply  their  omissions,  is  the 
most  reasonable  explanation  of  these  and  like 
variations  in  their  accounts.  He  does  not  de- 
scribe the  agony  in  Gethsemane,  because  he  can 
add  nothing  to  what  is  already  told  ;  he  narrates 
of  the  arrest  only  what  is  not  alreadj'  known. 
Even  in  describing  the  attempted  resistance  to 
the  arrest,  this  peculiarity  is  to  be  seen ;  for  he 
alone  of  the  Evangelists  mentions  the  name  of 
the  disciple  who  drew  the  sword  and  of  the  ser- 
vant who  was  wounded  by  it.  The  discrepancies 
in  the  four  accounts  of  the  arrest  are  such  as  we 
should  expect  in  four  individual  accounts  of  a 
scene  of  such  confusion.  The  probable  order  of 
events,  as  indicated  by  a  comparison  of  the  ac- 
counts, I  have  given  in  the  notes  on  Matthew, 
which  consult  throughout.  Here  I  treat  only 
what  is  peculiar  to  John's  account. 

1.  With  his  disciples.  That  is,  with  the 
eleven.  Judas  was  with  the  priests,  consummat- 
ing arrangements  for  the  arrest  of  Jesus. — Be- 
yond the  brook  of  the  Cedars.  Or  the  black 
torrent,  which  is  the  meanmg  of  the  Hebrew,  from 
which  the  Greek  is  derived.  The  word  rendered 
brook  ( /{III  a(>()oe)  indicates  a  winter  torrent,  flow- 
ing in  the  rainy  season,  but  dry  in  summer.  It 
flowed  through  a  ravine  to  the  east  of  Jerusalem, 
and  between  it  and  the  Mount  of  Olives. — Where 
Avas  a  garden.  Rather  an  orchard.  The  original 
signifies  any  place  planted  with  herbs  and  trees. 
This  was  called  Gethsemane,  and  was  a  customaiy 
resort  of  Christ  and  his  disciples.  See  next 
verse ;  and  compare  Luke  33  :  39.  On  its  loca- 
tion, see  Matt.  26  :  36  and  illustration  there.  On 
the  agony  in  this  garden,  see  notes  on  Matt. 


212 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XVIII. 


3  Judas'  then,  having  received  a  band  of  men  and 
officers  from  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees,  cometh 
thither  with  lanterns  and  torches  and  weapons. 

4  Jesus  therefore,  knowing""  all  things  that  should 
come  upon  him,  went  forth,  and  said  unto  them,  W'hom 
seek  ye? 


5  They  answered  him,  Jesus  of"  Nazareth.  Jesus 
saith  unto  them,  I  am  he.  And  Judas  also,  which  be- 
trayed him,  stood  with  them. 

6  As  soon  then  as  he  liad  said  unto  them,  I  am  he,, 
they  °  went  backward,  and  fell  to  the  ground. 


1  M.itt.  26  :  47,  etc. ;  Murk  14  :  43,  etc  ;  Luke  22  :  47,  etc. 


cL.  10  ;  17,  18;  Acts  2  :  28 n  ch.  19  :  19  ;  Matt.  2  :  23 o  Ps.  27  :  2  ;  40  :  14. 


26  :  36^6.  It  occurred  between  Christ's  entering 
the  garden  and  the  arrival  of  Judas  and  the 
guard. 

2,  3.  Judas  then,  having  received  the 
band,  and,  from  the  chief  priests  and 
Pharisees,  temple  officers  (yni]<>ixt]Q\  com- 
eth thither.  The  band  was  composed  of  Ko- 
man  soldiers  ;  the  ofllcers  were  temple  police  ; 
the  former  were  armed  with  swords,  the  latter 
with  staves.  Servants  of  the  priests,  and  some 
of  the  priests  themselves,  accompanied  the  force. 
See  Matt.  26  :  47,  note;  Luke  32  :  52.— With 
lanterns  and  torches.  "  The  fact  of  its  being 
full  moon  did  not  make  the  lights  unnecessary, 
as  in  searching  for  a  prisoner  they  might  have  to 
enter  dark  places." — (Alford.)  They  appear  also 
to  have  had  a  fear  of  attempted  flight  or  rescue. 
See  Matt.  26  :  48,  note.  I  doubt  whether  any 
definite  distinction  is  intended  between  lanterns 
and  torches.     The  annexed  cuts  give  illustra- 


KOMAN  TORCHES. 


ORIENTAL   TORCH. 


tions  of  two  kinds  of  night  torches  used  among 
the  Romans.  The  one  (fax\  {Rich.,  p.  280)  was 
made  out  of  a  piece  of  resinous  wood,  cut  into  a 
point  and  dipped  in  oil  or  pitch,  or  of  inflamma- 
ble materials  enclosed  in  a  tube.  The  other 
(Jatnpas),  (Rich.,  p.  365)  was  in  the  nature  of  a 
candlestick,  with  a  handle  beneath  and  a  large 
disk  above,  to  protect  the  hand  from  the  drip- 
pings of  the  pitchy  or  resinous  matter  of  which 
the  torch  consisted.  This  lampa  was  carried  by 
the  youth  of  Athens  in  a  peculiar  race,  in  which 
the  winner  had  to  outstrip  his  competitors  with- 
out extinguishing  his  light.  The  ancient  Orien- 
tal lantern,  like  those  still  employed  in  Egypt 
(see  Lane's  Moderii  Egypt),  consisted  of  a  wax 
cloth,  strained  over  a  sort  of  cylinder  of  iron 
rings  and  a  top  and  bottom  of  perforated  copper. 
Both  the  Roman  torch  and  the  Oriental  lantern 
may  have  been  used  on  this  occasion. 
4,    5.     Jesus,    therefore,    knowing    all 


things  that  should  come  upon  him.    Not 

merely  knowing  that  the  guard  had  come  to 
arrest  him  (Matt.  26  :  45),  but  with  the  full  con- 
sciousness of  all  the  agony  of  the  morrow  (Matt. 
20 :  17-19;  Luke  18 :  31-34).  Of  his  own  wiU  he  submits 
to  the  Passion  (Matt.  26 :  63 ;  John  10 :  is).  —  Went 
forth.  Possibly  from  the  shadow  of  the  trees 
into  the  moonlight,  or  from  the  garden  walls,  or 
perhaps  simply  advanced  to  meet  the  guards. 
His  object  in  so  doing  is  indicated  by  ver.  8. 
He  put  himself  between  the  guards  and  his  dis- 
ciples to  prevent  the  arrest  of  the  latter.  Judas 
preceded  the  band  (Luke  22 :  47),  and  Christ's  ques- 
tions addressed  to  the  apostate,  and  the  traitor's 

kiss  (Matt.  26  :  49,  50  ;    Luke  22  :  48),   SCCm  tO  haVe  takCU 

place  before  Christ  spoke  to  the  guard. — Jesus 
the  Nazarene.  Jesus,  or  Joshua — the  names  are 
the  same — was  a  common  one  among  the  Jews, 
and  the  terra  "Nazarene"  was  a  customary  ap- 
pellation, especially  by  his  foes,  to  designate  our 
Lord.  Its  tone,  to  the  Judeans,  was  one  of  con- 
tempt (Matt.  2  :  23  ;  John  19  :  19). — And   there   StOOd 

Judas,  he  that  betrayed  him,  with  them. 

If  we  suppose  that  Jesus  hurried  forth  from  the 
garden,  before  the  three  disciples  were  well 
awake,  to  the  spot  where  the  others  had  been 
sleeping,  then,  not  improbably,  John  did  not  see 
the  traitor's  kiss,  but,  arriving  after,  saw  Judas 
standing  with  the  guard,  who  had  meanwhile 
come  to  the  spot ;  thus  he  narrates  only  what  he 
personally  witnessed.  His  language,  by  its  very 
simplicity,  suggests  to  the  imagination  the  con- 
trast between  Jesus  and  Judas,  the  betrayed  and 
the  betrayer. 

Go  They  (the  guard)  went  backward  and 
fell  to  the  ground.  That  this  states  a  literal 
fact  will  not  be  questioned  by  any  who  believe 
in  the  historical  trustworthiness  of  the  Gospel 
narratives.  That  it  describes  a  miracle,  that  is, 
a  sign  of  the  superhuman  character  of  Christ,  is 
equally  certain.  Whether  it  is  to  be  regarded 
as  an  effect  produced  by  the  ivill  of  our  Lord,  or 
by  the  mere  majesty  and  dignity  of  his  mien,  and 
his  reply,  is  the  only  question  which  believers  in 
the  N.  T.  have  to  consider.  I  think  the  latter. 
The  scene  is  interpreted,  though  not  fully  ex- 
plained, by  similar  instances  of  moral  power 
excited  by  noble  over  savage  natures.  History 
records  several  analogous  cases,  as  when  before 
Mark  Antony,  Marius,  and  Coligny,  the  mur- 
derers recoiled  panic-stricken.  So  Avidius  Cas- 
sius,  ' '  springing  to  the  door  of  his  tent  in  night- 


Ch.  XVIIL] 


JOHN. 


213 


7  Then  asked  he  them  again,  Whom  seek  ye  ?    And 
they  said,  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

8  Jesus  answered,  1  have  told  j'ou  that  I  am  he :  if 
therefore  ye  seek  me,''  let  these  go  their  way  : 

9  That  the  saying  might  be  tulfilled  which  lie  spake,') 
Ot  them  which  thou  gavest  me  liave  I  lost  none. 

10  Then '  Simon  Peter,  having  a  sword,  drew  it,  and 


smote  the  high  priest's  servant,  and  cut  oflF  his  right 
ear.     The  servant's  name  was  Malchus. 

n  Then  said  Jesus  unto  Peter,  Put  up  thy  sword 
into  the  sheath  :  the  cup"  which  my  Father  hath  given 
me,  shall  I  not  drink  it  ? 

12  Then  tlie  band  and  the  captain  and  officers  of  the 
Jews  took  Jesus,  and  bound  him, 


p  Isa.  63  :  6  ;  Ephes.  5  :  25 q  ch.  17  :  12 r  Matt.  26  :  51  ;  Mark  14  :  47  ;  Luke  22  :  49,  50 s  Matt.  20  :  22  ;  26  :  39,  42. 


dress,  quelled  a  mutinous  army  by  his  mere 
presence." — {Farrar.)  Lange  cites  Matt.  28  :  4; 
Luke  i  :  30 ;  John  7  :  44-40  ;  8  :  59 ;  10  :  39 ;  Acts 
5  :  5,  10,  as  partially  parallel.  The  historical 
cases  above  referred  to  illustrate  the  human 
power  of  a  noble  soul ;  this  case  differs  from 
them  in  that  it  shows  the  divine  power  of  Him 
who  not  only  spake  as  never  man  spake,  but  who 
carried  in  his  person  the  evidence  that  he  was  in 
very  deed  the  image  of  God  and  the  brightness 
of  his  glory.  This  view  is  confirmed  by  the 
reflection  that  he  came  forth  to  meet  the  guard 
from  an  hour  of  sacred  and  solemn  communion 
with  God,  of  ecstasy  unfathomable  by  us.  "I 
regard  it,"  says  Alford,  "rather  as  a  miracle 
co7isequent  njwri  that  which  Christ  said  and  did, 
and  the  state  of  mind  in  which  his  enemies  were, 
than  as  one  in  the  strict  sense  wrought  by  him  ; 
bearing,  however,  always  in  mind,  that  to  Him 
nothing  was  unexpected  or  a  mere  result,  but 
everything  foreknown."  Thus  interpreted  it  is 
a  striking  testimony,  one  of  many,  to  the  per- 
sonal glory  of  Him  who  was  ever  fuU  of  "grace 
and  truth,"  and  gives  a  solemn  significance  to 
such  passages  as  Matt.  35  :  31 ;  Rev.  1  :  7 ;  6  : 
15-17.  "If  he  did  this  when  about  to  be  judged, 
what  shall  he  do  when  he  shall  sit  in  judgment  ? 
If  he  did  this  on  the  eve  of  death,  what  shall  he 
do  when  reigning  ?  " — {Augustine.) 

7,  8.  I  surmise  that  the  attack  on  the  guard 
followed  their  sudden  terror.  The  disciples 
were  eager  to  make  it  (Luke  22 :  49),  though  Peter 
was  the  only  one  who  carried  the  will  into  action. 
Only  one  other  disciple  was  armed  (Luke  22 :  as). 
The  request  of  Christ,  "Let  these  go  their  way, ^^ 
was  interpreted  by  the  disciples  as  a  direction 
for  them  to  flee,  which  they  did.  That  there 
was  anything  cowardly  or  wrong  in  this  flight  is 
by  no  means  clear.  To  sanction  it,  both  Christ's 
precept  (Matt.  10 :  23)  and  his  example  (Luke  4  :  30; 
John  s :  59 ;  10 :  39)  might  be  quoted.  Nothing  would 
have  been  gained  for  Christ  or  his  cause  by  the 
disciples  subjecting  themselves  to  arrest. 

9.  That  the  sayina:  niisrht  be  fulfilled. 
The  saying  is  quoted  from  Christ's  prayer,  John 
17  :  13.  The  present  deliverance  of  the  eleven 
from  physical  danger  was  not  a  final  fulfillment 
of  the  saying,  but  was  itself  a  historical  prophecy 
of  its  further  spiritual  fulfillment,  as  God's  prov- 
idential care  of  us  in  respect  to  present  and  tem- 
poral wants  is  a  testimony  of  the  love  that  pro- 


vides even  more  abundantly  for  every  spiritual 
want.     See  Matt.  2  :  15,  note. 

10,  11.  Christ  follows  his  rebuke  of  Peter  by 
healing  Malchus  (Luke  22 :  51).  John  alone  gives 
the  name  of  either  assailant  or  assailed.  See  for 
reason,  note  on  Matt.  20  :  51.  Compare  Christ's 
language  here  with  Matthew's  report.  Observe 
that  the  evils  brought  upon  us  by  wicked  men 
are  yet  recognized  here  as  given  by  God.  The 
sufferings  infiicted  by  Judas,  Caiaphas,  and  Pi- 
late, and  rendered  necessary  by  the  sins  of  the 
world,  are  yet  to  Christ's  faith  the  cup  which 
his  Father  hath  given  him. 

12-27.  The  Preliminaky  Examination  of 
Jesus  before  Caiaphas,  and  the  Denials  bt 
Peter. — This  examination,  narrated  by  John,  is 
distinctive  from  the  trial  reported  by  the  Synop- 

tistS   (Matt.  26  :  57-68  ;  Mark  14  :  53-65  ;  Luke  22  :  63-71 ).      For 

a  general  consideration  of  the  harmony  of  the 
Gospel  narratives,  and  of  their  lessons,  see  notes 
on  Matthew.  If  John  is  the  other  disciple  re- 
ferred to  in  verses  15, 10,  he  is  the  only  one  of  the 
Evangelists  who  was  an  eye  and  car  -witness  of 
these  events,  and  his  ordet  is  presumptively  the 
correct  one.  For  reasons  appearing  partly  in  the 
notes  on  Matthew,  partly  in  the  notes  below,  I 
believe  that  Jesus  was  sent  at  once  from  Annas 
to  Caiaphas,  though  the  two  may  have  occupied 
different  apartments  in  the  same  pal£^ce ;  that 
the  preliminary  examination  was  conducted  by 
Caiaphas  ;  that  while  it  proceeded  Peter  was  in 
the  adjoining  courtyard,  and  there  denied  his 
Lord ;  that  at  its  conclusion  Jesus  was  conducted 
to  the  Sanhedrim,  where  the  formal  trial  report- 
ed by  the  Synoptists  took  place ;  and  that  this 
trial  is  not  described  by  John,  perhaps  because 
he  was  not  present,  and  wrote  only  of  the  events 
which  he  personally  witnessed. 

12.  Then  the  band  *  *  *  bound  him. 
John  alone  describes  the  binding.  This  it  was, 
probably,  which  called  forth  the  remonstrance 
and  rebuke  of  Christ  recorded  in  Matt.  26  :  .55, 
56  ;  Luke  23  :  53,  53.  "To  apprehend  and  bind 
One,  all  gave  their  help:  the  cohort,  the  chUi- 
arch,  and  the  Jewish  officers.  This  the  Evan- 
gelist brings  prominently  forward,  to  show  how 
deep  the  impression  of  that  previous  incident 
still  was:  only  by  the  help  of  all  did  they  feel 
themselves  secure.  And  thus  it  was  ordered 
that  the  disciples  might  escape  with  the  more 
safety." — {Luthardt.) 


214 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XVIII. 


13  And  led  him  away  to  Annas'  first;  for  he  was 
father  in  law  to  Caiaplias,  which  was  the  high  priest 
that  same  year. 

14  Now'Caiaphas  was  he,  which  gave  counsel"  to 
the  Jews,  that  it  was  expedient  that  one  man  should 
die  for  the  people. 

15  And*  Simon  Peter  fullowed  Jesus,  and  jo  ^/</ an- 
other disciple :  that  disciple  was  known  unto  the  high 

Eriest,  and  went  in  with  Jesus  into  the  palace  ot  the 
igh  priest. 

16  But  Peter  stood  at  the  door  without.    Then  went 


out  that  other  disciple,  which  was  known  unto  the  high 
priest,  and  spake  unto  her  that  kept  the  door,  and 
brought  in  Peter. 

17  Then  saith  the  damsel  that  kept  the  door  unto 
Peter,  Art  not  thou  also  one  of  this  man's  disciples? 
He  saith,  I  am  not. 

iB  And  the  servants  and  officers  stood  there,  who 
had  made  a  fire  of  coals ;  for  it  was  cold :  and  they 
warmed  themselves:  and  Peter  stood  with  them,  and 
warmed  himself. 


.  u  ch.  n  :  49,  60 v  Matt.  26  :  58,  etc. ;  Mark  14  :  54 ;  Luke  2-2  :  54. 


13,  14.  Annas  first.  Annas  was  appointed 
High  Priest  of  the  Jews  a.  d.  7,  but  had  been  re- 
moved by  the  Roman  Procurator  several  years 
previous,  and  Joseph  Caiaphas,  his  son-in-law, 
had  been  appointed  in  his  stead.  In  Luke  3  :  2 
both  are  designated  as  high-priests,  and  in  Acts 
4  :  6 ;  23  :  3,  the  title  is  given  to  Annas.  The 
probable  explanation  is  that  while  Caiaphas 
held  the  office,  he  was  really  controlled  by  his 
father-in-law,  who  may  have  been  regarded  by 
the  Jews  as  their  true  high-priest,  notwithstand- 
ing his  deposition  by  the  Romans.  He  seems  to 
have  been  one  of  that  class  of  politicians  who  are 
willing  that  others  should  possess  the  honors 
and  offices,  provided  they  may  wield  the  powers 
of  the  state.— Caiaphas.  See  Matt.  26  :  57, 
note. — That  same  year.  The  high-priest  was 
originally  appointed  for  life,  but  the  office  was 
now  filled  by  appointees  of  the  Roman  govern- 
ment. There  were  no  fewer  than  twenty-eight 
high-priests  from  the  reign  of  Herod  to  the  de- 
struction of  the  temple  by  Titus.  Of  these,  five 
besides  Caiaphas  were  sons  of  Annas.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  there  is  a  delicate  sarcasm  in  John's 
incidental  allusion  to  the  transitoriness  of  the 
office.  This,  at  least,  seems  to  me  better  than 
to  render  the  original  (ekuitoc)  era  instead  of 
year^  though  that  is  a  possible  translation,  or  to 
suppose,  with  Prof.  Fisher,  that  John  thus  sim- 
ply emphasizes  the  supreme  importance  which 
that  year,  of  the  trial  and  crucifixion  of  Jesus, 
had  in  his  mind.— Which  gave  counsel.  See 
John  11  :  49-51. 

15.  Another  disciple.  Who  this  other 
disciple  was  is  not  certainly  known,  though  Al- 
ford  says  "  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  uni- 
versal persuasion  that  by  this  name  John  intends 
himself,  and  refers  to  the  mention  in  ch.  13  :  23 
of  a  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved."  The  notion 
that  it  was  Judas  Iscariot  is  refuted  by  the  lan- 
guage of  this  verse.  Judas  did  not  follow  Jesus, 
but  accompanied  the  band  ;  and  that  Peter  should 
have  entered  the  palace  under  the  protection  of 
Judas  after  the  betrayal  is  incredible.  Some 
manuscripts  have  the  reading  the  other  disciple, 
which  would  identify  him  with  John  (ch.  20 : 2, 3, 4). 
But  it  seems  more  probable  that  the  article  was 
added  by  some  copyist  to  give  definiteness  to  the 
expression,  than  that  it  was  subsequently  omit- 


ted.—Was  known   unto    the    high-priest. 

How,  we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining.  John 
19  :  27  is,  however,  thought  to  indicate  that  the 
apostle  John  had  a  house  in  Jerusalem. — Into 
the  palace  of  the  high-priest.  Smce  John 
describes  Caiaphas  as  high-priest,  this  verse 
clearly  indicates  that  Jesus  was  taken  at  once 
from  Annas  to  Caiaphas.    See  on  ver.  24. 

16,  17.  See  Matt.  20  :  69,  note,  and  illustra- 
tion there.  The  doorkeeper  was  not  unfrequent- 
ly  a  maid  (Acts  12 :  13).  The  language  here,  Art 
not  thou  also  one  of  his  disciples  ?  indicates  that 
John  was  known  to  her  as  a  disciple,  and  that 
Peter's  first  denial  was  uttered  on  entering,  and 
for  the  purpose  of  gaining  an  entrance.  Observe 
that  it  is  not  being  in  bad  company,  but  fellow- 
ship in  it,  that  is  dangerous.  Peter  and  John 
were  both  in  the  same  company,  but  one  con- 
cealed bis  discipleship,  the  other  did  not. 

18.  The  servants  *  *  *  had  made 
a  fire  of  coals.  Probably  an  open  fire  in  a 
portable  stove  or  brazier,  in  the  open  courtyard 
around  which  the  Jewish  house 
was  customarily  built.  It  is  doubt- 
ful whether  chimneys  were  known 
to  the  ancients ;  they  were  certain- 


ANCIENT   FIKB   TTTENSILS. 

1,  2.  Braziers.    3.  Fire-hod.    4.  Bellows. 
5.  Tongs. 

ly  very  rare.  Fires  were  built  sometimes  in  a 
little  brazier  or  chafing-dish,  sometimes  in  a 
small  portable  stove  or  fireplace.  The  fire  was 
always  carried  from  one  room  to  another  in  a 


Ch.  XVIIL] 


JOHN. 


215 


19  The  high  priest  then  asked  Jesus  of  his  disciples, 
and  of  his  doctrine. 

20  Jesus  answered  him,  I  spalie"  openly  to  the 
worlil  •  I  ever  taught  in  the  synagogue,  and  iu  the  tem- 
ple, whither  the  J  ews  always  resort ;  and "  in  secret 
Lave  I  said  nothing. 


21  Why  askest  thou  me  ?  ask  them  which  heard  me, 
what  I  liave  said  unto  them  :  behold,  they  know  what 
1  said. 

22  And  when  he  had  thus  spoken,  one  of  the  officers 
wliich  stood  by  struck  >  Jesus  with  liie  i>alm  of  his 
hand,  saying,  Answerest  lliou  the  high  priest  so  ? 


w  ch.  7  :  14,  26,  28  ;  8  :  2  j  Luke  4  :  15  ....  x  Acte  26  :  26  .  . . .  y  Job  Ifi  :  10  ;  Jcr.  20  :  2  ;  Acts  23  :  2, 


fire-basket  made  of  iron,  with  perforated  sides, 
to  create  a  draft  of  air.  Bellows  and  tonjijs  were 
also  in  use  among  them.  The  accompanying 
illustrations,  taken  from  ancient  bronzes  and 
paintings,  will  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  these 
articles.  Peter,  by  joining  the  group  around  the 
fire  and  conceahng  his  true  character,  identified 
himself  with  the  persecutors  of  Christ. 

19-21.  The  his^h-priest  then  asked  Jesus. 
It  was  customary  among  the  Jews  to  subject  an 
accused  person  to  an  examination  analogous  to 


that  practised  at  a  later  day  in  the  Inquisition. 
Witnesses  concealed  behind  a  screen  reduced  his 
replies  to  writing.  To  such  an  examination,  pre- 
liminary to  his  formal  trial,  Jesus  Christ  was 
now  subjected. — Of  his  disciples  and  of  his 
doctrine.  The  object  of  the  first  question  was 
to  get  evidence  against  his  adherents,  the  object 
of  the  second  to  get  evidence  against  Jesus  him- 
self. To  the  first  Jesus  pays  no  attention ;  to 
the  second  he  interposes  a  calm  and  dignified 
protest. — I    spoke    openly.      Rather   freely, 


DENIALS   OF   PETER. 


boldly.  The  original  (Tta^^tiala)  signifies  literally 
speaking  out  all,  that  is,  free-spokenness.  Ob- 
Berve  that  boldness  and  frankness  of  utterance 
are  essential  qualifications  of  the  true  preacher. 
—In  secret  have  I  said  nothing.  Some 
truths  he  had  reserved  because  they  could  not 
be  understood  (.lohn  i6 :  12, 25),  and  others  which  he 
had  taught  were  not  understood  (Matt.  13 :  13 ;  1  cor. 


2 : 7, 8) ;  but  there  were  no  mysteries  in  his  reli- 
gious teaching  which  he  had  sought  to  conceal 
and  for  which  he  was  amenable. — Ask  them 
Avhich  heard  me.  Not  improbably  some  of  the 
verj'  officers  so  strangely  affected  by  his  preach- 
ing were  present.  If  so,  this  appeal  to  their  own 
subordinates  would  have  incensed  the  priests, 
by  making  manifest  their  own  injustice. 


216 


JOHN. 


23  Jesus  answered  him.  If  I  have  spoken  evil,  bear 
witness  of  the  evil :  but^  if  well,  why  smitest  thou  me  ? 

24  Now  Annas  had  sent  him  bound  unto  Caiaphas 
the  high  priest. 

25  And  Simon  Peter  stood  and  warmed  himself. 
They  said  therefore  unto  him,  Art  not  thou  also  one  of 
his  disciples  ?    He  denied  it,  and  said,  I  am  not. 


[Ch.  xviil 


26  One  of  the  servants  of  the  high  priest,  being  his 
kinsman  whose  ear  Peter  cut  off,  saitn,  Did  not  I  see 
thee  in  the  garden  with  him  ? 

27  Peter  then  denied  again  :  and  »  immediately  the 
cock  crew. 

28  Then''  led  they  Jesus  from  Caiaphas  unto  the  hall 
of  judgment ;  and  it  was  early  ;  and  they  themselves 


1  Pet.  2  :  19-23 a  ch.  13  :  38  ;  Matt.  26  :  74 ;  Mark  14  :  72  ;  Luke  22  :  60 b  Matt.  27  :  2,  etc. ;  Mark  15  :  1,  etc. ;  Luke  23  :  1,  etc. 


22,  23.  With  the  palm  of  his  hand.    Or 

with  a  staff;  either  meaning  Is  admissible.  Con- 
trast with  Christ's  calm  rejoinder  Paul's  response 
to  similar  maltreatment  (Acts  23 : 3).  The  com- 
mentators note  in  Christ's  course  here  his  own 
interpretation  of  Matt.  5  :  39.  "An  angry  man 
may  turn  in  sullenness  the  other  cheek  visibly  to 
the  smiter ;  better  is  he  who  makes  a  true  an- 
swer with  mildness,  and  prepares  his  heart  in 
peace  to  endure  great  sufferings." — (Aiigustine.) 
"Christ  forbids  self-defence  with  the  hand,  not 
with  the  tongue." — (Luther.)  "Christ's  precept 
does  not  exclude  the  remonstrance  against  un- 
just oppression,  provided  it  be  done  calmly  and 
patiently. " — {Alford. ) 

24.  Now  Annas  had  sent  him  bound 
unto  Caiaphas.  Some  scholars  (so  Alford, 
Lange,  and  Meyer)  render  this  verse,  Sent  him 
bound,  and  suppose  that  Jesus  was  sent  from 
Annas  to  Caiaphas  at  this  time ;  but  Winer  (p. 
275,  §  40,  5a)  and  Buttman  (p.  200,  §  137)  show 
that  the  aorist  is  sometimes  used  for  the  plu- 
perfect, as  rendered  by  our  English  version,  and 
that  the  sentence  may  be  accordingly  regarded 
grammatically  as  parenthetical.  I  believe  (see 
ver.  15,  note)  that  this  is  the  true  construction,  and 
that  the  parenthesis  is  introduced  at  this  place 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  that  Jesus  was  still 
bound  when  the  indignity  here  described  was 
inflicted  upon  him. 

25-27.  Peter  stood  and  warmed  him- 
self. In  apparent  indifference  to  his  Lord  ;  con- 
cerned only  for  his  comfort,  and  absorbed  in  his 
curiosity. — Did  not  I  see  thee  ?  This  ques- 
tion was  apparently  put  to  Peter  after  he  had 
retreated  to  the  porch.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  Peter's  danger  was  real  and  imminent ;  for 
his  assault  on  Malchus  had  rendered  him  amena- 
ble to  legal  penalty.  On  the  denial  and  its  les- 
sons, see  notes  on  Matt.  26  :  69-75. 

Ch.  18  :  28  to  ch.  19  :  16.  TRIAL  OF  JESUS  BEFORE 
P1I,ATE.— The  conscience  op  the  ceremonialist  (28). 
— Jesus  a  king  ;  his  kingdom  truth  ;  its  defences 
NOT  worldly;  it  conquers  only  the  willing  (33-38). 
—In  Christ  no  fault  (38  ;  ch.  19  :  4,  6).— The  world 
CHOOSES  Barabbas  and  rejects  Christ  (39,  40).— 
Obo^vnbd  suffering  (ch.  19  :  1-3). —Behold  the 
MAN  (5).— Behold  your  King  (14).— The  testimony 
OF  THE  Jews  to  the  divinitt  of  Christ  (7).-^The 
silence  of  Jesus  (9).— The  end  of  rejecting  Christ 
18  rejecting  God  :  We  hate  no  king  but  Caesar 


(15).  —  The  cbime  of  cowabdice  illustrated  by 
Pilate. 

This  trial  is  reported  also  in  Matt.  27  :  11-31 ; 
Mark  15  :  1-23  ;  Luke  23  : 1-25.  John's  account 
is  the  fullest,  and  has  indications  of  being  by  an 
eye  and  ear  witness ;  but  he  does  not  mention 
Pilate's  wife's  dream  and  Pilate's  washing  of  his 
hands  in  attestation  of  his  innocence,  recorded 
only  by  Matthew,  nor  the  accusation  preferred 
by  the  priests  and  the  sending  of  Jesus  to  Herod, 
recorded  only  by  Luke.  For  chronological  order 
of  events,  see  Matt.  27  :  11-31,  Prel.  Note.  For 
a  consideration  of  the  character  of  Pilate,  the 
reasons  for  his  vacillating  course,  and  the  prac- 
tical lessons  to  be  drawn  from  it,  see  note  below, 
ver.  16.  The  place  of  this  trial  I  believe  to  have 
been  the  tower  of  Antonia ;  the  reason  for  the 
trial  is  explained  in  ver.  31  (see  note  there). 

28,  29.  Unto  the  hall  of  judgment.  Lit- 
erally Prsetorium — the  name  given  among  the  Ro- 
mans to  the  headquarters  of  the  Roman  military 
governor,  wherever  he  happened  to  be  ;  here  it  is 
the  residence  which  Pilate  occupied  in  Jerusalem. 
Whether  that  was  the  palace  of  King  Herod,  as. 
Farrar  and  others  have  supposed,  or  the  tower  of 
Antonia,  is  uncertain  ;  more  probably  the  latter, 
which  was  at  the  time  and  long  afterwards  the 
citadel  of  Jerusalem,  the  headquarters  of  the 
army,  and  the  residence  of  the  Roman  governors. 
It  was  built  upon  the  same  broad  platform  of 
solid  rock  upon  which  the  temple  stood,  and  so 
adjoined  the  walls  of  the  latter  that  the  Gentile 
camp  seemed  a  part  of  the  Jewish  sanctuary. 
Four  towers  at  its  four  comers  gave  it  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  castle  and  the  strength  of  a  for- 
tress. One  of  these  towers  looked  down  into  the 
broad  courts  of  the  temple,  and  thus  subjected 
all  the  gatherings  there  to  the  oversight  of  the 
haied  heathen,  while  its  gates,  opening  directly 
info  those  courts,  rendered  it  easy,  at  a  moment's 
notice,  to  quell  any  disturbance  which  might 
occur  there. — And  it  was  early.  The  origi- 
nal (TTowtiy)  properly  signifies  the  period  between 
daybreak  and  sunrise  (John  20 :  1),  but  it  is  also 
used  in  a  more  general  sense  to  signify  the  early 
part  of  the  forenoon  (Matt.  21  :  is),  and  that  must 
be  its  meaning  here,  for  this  trial  before  Pilate 
occurred  certainly  after  the  cock-crowing,  and 
probably  the  formal  trial  of  Jesus  before  the 
Sanhedrim  and  the  subsequent  deliberations  of 
the  Sanhedrim  to  secure  the  execution  of  the 


JESUS    BEFORE    PILATE. 

"jgri  thou  the  king-  of  the  Jews" 


Ch.  XVIII.] 


JOHN. 


217 


went  not  into  the  judgment  hall,  lest''  they  should  be 
defiled  ;  but  that  they  mi^ht  eat  the  [lassovcr. 

29  Pilate  then  went  out  unto  them,  and  said,  What 
accusation  bring  ye  against  tliis  man  ? 

30  They  answered  and  said  unto  him,  If  he  were  not 
a  malefactor,  we  would  not  have  delivered  him  up 
unto  thee. 

31  Then  said  Pilate  unto  them,  Talce  ye  him.  and 
judge  him  according  to  your  law.    The  Jews  therefore 


said  unto  him.  It  is  not  lawful  for  us""  to  put  any  man 
to  death  : 

32  Tlial  the  saying  of  Jesus  might  be  fulfilled,  which 
he  spake,"  signifying  what  death  lie  sliould  die. 

33  Then  Pilate  entered  into  the  judgment  liall  again, 
and  called  Jesus,  and  said  unto  him,  Art  thou  the  King 
of  the  Jews? 

34  Jesus  answered  him,  Sayest  tliouthis  thing  of  thy- 
self, or  did  others  tell  it  thee  of  me  ? 


c  Acts  10  :  28 d  Gen.  49  :  10  ;  Ezek.  21  :  27 e  Matt.  20  :  19  ;  Luke  18  :  32, ! 


death-sentence  intervened  between  the  cock- 
crowuig  and  their  conducting?  Jesus  to  Pilate. — 
Lest  they  should  be  defiled.  According  to 
the  Pharisaic  ideas  they  could  not  enter  a  Gen- 
tile house  without  defilement,  and  this  precluded 
their  participation  in  the  passover,  which  in  such 
case  must  be  postponed  by  those  who  were  de- 
filed (xumb.  9 : 6-n).  A  curious  illustration  of  the 
fallibility  of  conscience  is  this  superstition  of  the 
Pharisees,  who  feared  defilement  from  entering 
the  house  of  a  heathen,  but  none  from  the  en- 
deavor to  secure  by  fraud  and  violence  the  con- 
demnation of  their  Lord. — That  they  might 
eat  the  Passover.  Here  not  the  paschal  sup- 
per, but  the  festival  which  followed  it,  and 
which  lasted  for  seven  days.  See  Note  on  the 
Lord's  Supper,  Matt.  2()  :  30.  The  paschal  sup- 
per itself  I  believe  to  have  been  observed  the 
night  before.  An  incidental  confirmation  of  this 
opinion  is  afforded  by  Wieseler,  quoted  in  Lange, 
who  asserts  that  chronological  calculations  show 
that  in  the  year  30,  the  14th  of  Nisan,  on  the  even- 
ing of  which  the  supper  proper  took  place,  actu- 
ally fell  on  a  Thursday  ;  and  it  is  certain  that  the 
crucifixion  of  Christ  occurred  on  Friday.  If 
Wieseler  is  correct,  the  Lord's  Supper  must 
have  been  the  true  paschal  supper.  —  Pilate 
Aveiit  out  unto  them.  Pontius  Pilate  was  the 
Roman  procurator  or  resident  governor  of  Judea 
at  this  time.  On  his  authority,  see  Matt.  27  :  3, 
note ;  on  his  character,  career,  and  course  here, 
see  note  below,  ch.  19  :  16.  His  going  out  to 
them  was  itself  a  concession. — Against  this 
man.  Probably  he  knew  something  of  Jesus 
(Matt.  27  :  18,  19) ;  for  a  guard  had  been  furnished 
from  his  headquarters  for  the  arrest  of  Jesus 

(John  18  :  3,  note). 

30.  They  answered,  etc.  It  seems  to  have 
been  their  endeavor  to  secure  the  ratification  of 
the  death-sentence  without  any  hearing,  partly 
because  they  knew  that  the  Roman  governor 
would  be  indifferent  to  the  charge  of  blasphemy 
(Acts  18 :  14-n),  and  partly  because  their  pride  re- 
volted against  submitting  the  decision  of  their 
court  to  the  hated  Gentile. 

31.  Then  said  Pilate,  Take  ye  him  and 
judge  him.  *  *  *  it  is  not  lawful  for 
us  to  put  any  man  to  death.  It  seems  to 
have  been  the  custom  of  the  Romans  to  take 
into  their  own  hands  in  conquered  provinces  the 


power  of  life  and  death,  as  one  of  the  principal 
attributes  of  sovereignty.  There  is  no  good  rea- 
son to  doubt  that  this  had  been  done  in  Pales- 
tine, and  that  the  Sanhedrim  had  no  longer 
power  to  execute  the  death-sentence.  The  exe- 
cution of  Stephen,  though  in  a  ceitain  sense 
sanctioned  by  the  Sanhedrim,  was  the  act  of  a 
mob  (Acts  7 :  57, 58).  Pilatc's  answer  to  the  demand 
of  the  priests  is  ironical,  a  bitter  reminder  to 
them  that  they  had  no  longer  the  power  of  sov- 
ereignty. Other  interpretations,  such  as  that 
they  had  no  power  to  cnicify,  or  none  to  execute 
on  the  feast-day,  or  none  to  punish  crimes  against 
the  state,  are  both  unnecessary  and  improbable. 

32.  That  the  saying  of  Jesus  might  be 
fulfilled,  signifying,  etc.  See  ch.  13  :  33,  33; 
Matt.  20  :  18, 19,  where  Christ  foretold  his  cruci- 
fixion.    It  was  also  hinted  at  in  O.  T.  prophecy 

(Numb.  21  :  8,  9,  with  John  .3  :  14  ;    Ps.  22  :  16,  18  ;    Isa.  53  :  8,  9 ). 

Death  was  inflicted  under  the  Jewish  law  by 
stoning  (Deut.  13 : 9, 10 ;  17 :  b-'i).  Calvin  observes  the 
indication  in  this  that  Christ's  death  in  all  its 
particulars  fulfills  the  eternal  purpose  of  God. 
Comp.  Acts  3  :  23. 

33.  Then  Pilate  entered  into  the  judg- 
ment-hall again.  Meantime  the  priests  had 
framed  and  presented  their  accusation  of  sedi- 
tion (Luke  23 :  2).  Tliis  accusation  may  well  have 
perplexed  Pilate.  Christ  had  claimed  to  be 
King  ;  promulgated  laws  ;  organized  in  the  heart 
of  Caesar's  province  the  germ  of  an  imperishable 
kingdom  ;  entered  Jerusalem  in  triumph,  hailed 
by  the  throng  as  King  of  the  Jews ;  and  his  ar- 
rest had  been  forcibly  resisted  by  one  of  his  fol- 
lowers. These  facts  a  wily  priesthood  could 
easily  pervert  and  exaggerate  so  as  to  give  color 
to  their  accusation.  How  unscrupulous  they 
were  is  evident  from  a  comparison  of  Luke  23  : 3 
with  ch.  20  :  33-2.5.— And  called  Jesus.  For 
a  private  examination  apart  from  the  priests  and 
the  gathering  mob. 

34.  35.  Jesus  answered  him,  etc.— This 
question  is  not  asked  for  information  as  to  the 
nature  of  the  charge  preferred  against  him  and 
the  character  of  his  accusers,  for  evidently  Jesus 
was  present  when  they  preferred  it ;  nor  as  a 
means  of  ascertaining  in  what  sense  Pilate  used 
the  title  ki7i(/,  whether  in  the  Jewish  sense,  to 
signify  the  promised  founder  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  or  in  a  Roman  sense,  to  signify  a  political 


218 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XVIII. 


35  Pilate  answered,  Am  I  a  Jew  ?  Thine  own '  na- 
tion and  the  chief  priests  have  delivered  thee  unto  me  : 
what  hast  thou  done  ? 

36  Jesus s  answered,  My''  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world  :  if  my  kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would 


my  servants  fight,  that  I  should  not  be  delivered  to  the 
Jews :  but  now  is  my  kingdom  not  from  hence. 

37  Pilate  therefore  said  unto  him,  Art  thou  a  king 
then  ?  Jesus  answered,  Thou  sayest  that  I  am  a  king. 
To  this  end  was  I  born,  and  for  this  cause  came  I  into 


f  ch    19  :  11 ;  Acta  3  :  13. . .  .g  1  Tim.  6  :  13. . .  .h  cU.  6  :  15  ;   Ps.  45  :  3,  6  :   Isa.  9  :  6,  7 ;  Dan.  2  :  44  j  7  :  14  ;   Zech. 

RoDi.  14  :  11 ;  Cul.  1  :  13. 


Luke  1'2  :  14  ; 


kingdom  antagonistic  to  Jewish  authority.  For 
he  who  knew  what  was  in  man,  understood  Pi- 
late's character  and  mind.  It  was  the  most 
forcible  possible  reply  to  the  accusation.  Who, 
he  asks,  has  preferred  this  charge  ?  The  Jews. 
Pilate's  mind  instantly  grasps  the  conclusion. 
"If  it  had  been  preferred  by  a  Roman  centu- 
rion, it  would  have  been  worthy  of  examination. 
But  when  was  it  ever  known  that  the  Jewish 
priesthood  complained  of  one  who  sought  the 
political  emancipation  of  the  nation?  None 
knew  better  than  Pilate  how  uneasy  were  the 
people  under  the  Roman  yoke.  The  voices  of 
the  mob  before  the  judgment-seat  crying  out  for 
Jesus'  blood  were  unwitting  witnesses  of  his 
innocence." — {Lyman  AbboWs  Jesus  of  Nazareth.) 
The  reply  had  the  desired  effect.  PUate's  re- 
sponse, "Am  I  a  Jew  ?  Thine  own  nation  and 
the  chief  priests  have  delivered  thee  unto  me," 
shows  how  quickly  he  filled  out  the  argument 
which  Christ  by  a  question  suggested  to  his  mind. 
— What  hast  thou  done  ?  An  honest  ques- 
tion. He  rejects  the  testimony  of  the  priesthood 
to  the  sedition  of  the  prisoner  (Luke  23 : 2),  and  ap- 
peals to  Jesus  himself  to  explain  their  enmity. 

36.  Jesus  answered.  Honest  perplexity 
he  would  not  refuse  to  answer.  Contrast  his 
silence  before  Caiaphas  (Matt.  26 :  62),  Herod  (Luke 
23 : 9),  and  later  before  Pilate  himself  (John  19 : 9). — 
My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  Avoiid.  Its  ori- 
gin is  not  from  the  earth.  The  preposition  of 
{ix)  signifies  the  source  or  origin  from  which 
anything  springs.  Christ's  kingdom  is  m  the 
world  and  over  the  world,  but  not  from  the 
world  nor  maintained  by  worldly  means. — If  my 
kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would 
my  servants  fight.  Not  angels,  of  which  Pi- 
late knew  nothing ;  nor  the  twelve,  of  whom  it 
is  doubtful  whether  he  knew  anything.  The 
argument  was  one  which  readily  addressed  itself 
to  Pilate's  understanding.  If  Jesus  were  an 
earthly  king,  his  followers  would  have  defended 
him  from  arrest  by  his  enemies  and  theirs.  It  is 
true  Peter  had  done  so  (ver.  10),  but  he  had  been 
rebuked,  and  the  wound  he  inflicted  had  been 
miraculously  healed,  so  that  the  priesthood 
could  not  appeal  to  this  resistance  in  support  of 
their  charge,  except  by  misrepresenting  it.  — 
That  I  should  not  be  delivered  to  the 
JeAVS.  Jews  generally  in  John  means  the  Jude- 
ans,  the  inhabitants  of  the  southern  province  of 
Palestine,  who  were  Christ's  especial  opponents. 


— But  now  is  my  kingdom  not  from  hence. 

Now  is  not  here  a  particle  of  time,  but  of  con- 
nection. That  is,  the  meaning  is  not.  My  king- 
dom is  not  now  of  this  world,  as  though  its  tem- 
poral power  and  glory  was  to  come  by  and  by, 
but,  Tims  you  see  my  kingdom  is  not,  etc.  The 
former  meaning  has  been  given  to  the  word  by 
some  Roman  Catholic  commentators,  to  break 
the  force  of  the  declaration  as  a  testimony  against 
the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope  and  the  priest- 
hood. For  similar  connective  use  of  the  particle 
{vvv)  now,  see  Acts  13  :  11 ;  22  :  16 ;  1  Cor.  14  :  6. 
Observe  in  this  verse  :  (1)  A  distinct  declaration 
of  the  supernatural  origin  and  character  of 
Christ's  kingdom.  Christianity  is  not  a  devel- 
opment of  human  thought,  but  a  gift  to  mam  from 
God.  Comp.  John  3  :  3  ;  8  :  23  ;  13  :  3  ;  Rev.  21 :  2. 
(2)  It  is  to  be  defended  by  spiritual,  not  by  earth- 
ly or  physical  means.  With  the  spirit  of  this 
declaration  all  attempts  to  maintain  the  church 
or  its  truth  by  civil  enactment  or  the  power  of 
the  sword  are  inconsistent.  How  little  the  spir- 
itual nature  of  Christ's  kingdom  was  understood 
in  the  middle  ages  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
even  Calvin,  on  this  passage,  argues  that  kings 
and  princes  may  "employ  all  the  power  they 
possess  in  defending  the  church  and  maintaining 
godliness."  (3)  The  strength  and  permanence  of 
Christ's  kingdom  as  compared  with  kingdoms 
built  up  on  or  defended  by  might  of  arms. 
"Here  he  sheweth  the  weakness  of  kingship 
among  us,  that  its  strength  lies  in  servants ;  but 
that  which  is  above  is  sufficient  for  itself,  need- 
ing nothing." — {Chrysostom.) 

37.  Art  thou  then  not  a  king  ?  Or  per- 
haps, with  a  touch  of  irony,  Tlwu  art  then  a  king. 
Either  rendering  is  admissible  (see  Winer,  p.  512). 
— Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thou  sayest  (truly) ; 
for  I  am  a  king.  This  is  truer  to  the  original 
than  our  English  version.  The  first  clause  of 
the  sentence,  "  Thou  sayest,^''  is  a  common  form 
of  Jewish  affirmation,  and  was  not  confined  to 
the  Jews  (Matt.  26 :  64,  note).  The  sccond  clause 
gives  emphasis  to  this  affirmation,  and  the  rea- 
son for  it,  for  I  am  a  king.  Observe  how  the 
solemn  testimony  of  Christ  to  his  divine  Messiah- 
ship  before  Caiaphas  is  here,  in  a  different  form, 
reiterated  before  Pilate. — To  this  end  was  I 
born,  and  for  this  cause  came  I  into  the 
world.  The  first  clause  does  not  necessarily 
imply  a  pre-existence,  because,  in  a  sense,  every 
creature  is  bom  to  fulfil  a  divine  purpose ;  but 


Ch.  XIX.] 


JOHN. 


219 


the  world,  that  I  should  bear'  witness  unto  the  truth. 
Every  oneJ  that  is  of  the  truth  heareth  my  voice. 

38  Pilate  saith  unto  him,  What  is  truth  ?  And  when 
he  had  said  this,  he  went  out  again  unto  the  Jews,  and 
saith  unto  them,  1  lind  in  him  no  fault  at  all. 

39  But  ye  have  a  custom,  that  1  should  release  unto 
you  one  at  the  passover:  will  ye  therefore  that  I  re- 
lease unto  you  the  King  of  the  Jews? 

40  Then  cried  they  all  again,  saying,  Not  this  man, 
but  Barabbas.    Now  Barabbas  was  a  robber. 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

THEN"  Pilate  therefore  took  Jesus,  and  scourged' 
him. 


2  And  the  soldiers  platted  a  crown  of  thorns,  and 
put  //  on  his  head,  and  they  ])ut  on  him  a  purple  robe, 

3  And  said.  Hail,  King  of  the  Jews  !  and  they  smote 
him  with  their  hands. 

4  Pilate  therefore  went  forth  again,  and  saith  unto 
them.  Behold,  I  bring  him  forth  to  you,  that  ye  may 
know  that™  1  find  no  fault  in  him. 

5  Then  came  Jesus  forth,  wearing  the  crown  of 
thorns,  and  the  purple  robe.  And  Pilate  saith  unto 
them.  Behold  the  man  ! 

5  When  the  chief  priests  therefcre  and  officers  saw 
him,  they  cried  out,  saying,  Crucify  him,  crucify  him. 
Pilate  saith  unto  them.  Take  ye  him,  and  crucify  him  : 
for  I  find  no  fault  in  him. 


i  Isa.  55  :4  jRev.  1  :  6  ;  3  :  U j  ch.  8  :  47  ;  1  John  4:  6.... k  Matt.  27  :  26,  eU. ;  Mark  15  :  15,  etc....l  Isa.  53  :  5 m  verse  6;  ch.  18:! 


the  second  clause  would  be  tautological,  a  mere 
repetition  of  the  first,  if  it  did  not  indicate  a 
coming  into  the  world  from  a  pre-existent  state 
and  for  a  particular  purpose.  And  Pilate  seems 
to  have  partially,  at  least,  so  understood  it  (ch. 
19  : 9,  note). — Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth 
(tz  r<]:  u/.ii9iiu::).  Proceeding  from  the  truth;  that 
is,  who  has  so  far  come  under  the  influence  of 
truth,  is  so  far  born  anew  by  the  power  of  the 
truth  on  his  own  soul,  as  to  be  a  sincere  seeker 
after  truth,  and  hence,  in  a  deeper  sense,  so  far 
under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  who  is 
the  Truth,  as  to  be  seeking  to  know  Him  who  is 
the  Truth  incarnate  in  human  life.  Parallel  to 
this  declaration  are  John  6  :  45 ;  8  :  47.  Observe, 
(1)  Jesus  Christ  is  not  only  a  teacher,  an  exam- 
ple, and  a  Saviour,  but  a  King ;  and  we  can  ac- 
cept him  as  a  Saviour  onlj'  as  we  accept  him  as 

our  King  (John  15  :  10;    1  John  3  :  22-24)  ;    (2)  the   Object 

of  his  uicamation  is  to  tesMfy  to  the  truth,  which 
he  does  by  his  words,  and  yet  more  by  incarnat- 
ing the  truth  in  living  forms,  perfectly  in  his 
'  own  life,  imperfectly  in  the  lives  of  his  follow- 
ers ;  (3)  they  only  hear  {receive)  him,  in  whom 
the  spirit  of  truth-seeking  already  exists.  Comp. 
Matt.  13  :  13-15. 

38.  What  is  truth  ?  This  famous  inquiry 
of  Pilate  is  certainly  not  the  inquiry  of  an  honest 
seeker  for  truth  (Chrysostom),  for  he  does  not 
even  wait  for  an  answer ;  nor  apparently  the  dis- 
consolate question  of  one  who  despaired  of  ever 
arriving  at  a  standard  of  truth  (Ohhausen),  for 
there  is  no  evidence  that  he  had  ever  sought 
to  know  the  truth,  either  in  philosophy  or  in  re- 
ligion ;  nor  the  scofling  question  of  one  who  be- 
lieves that  truth  can  never  be  found  (Alford),  and 
whose  modern  type  is  the  positivist  who  believes 
that  aU  creeds  are  false,  and  God,  immortality, 
and  the  soul  are  unknowable,  for  there  is  nothing 
to  indicate  that  such  problems  had  any  interest 
for  him.  It  is  rather  asked,  half  in  pity,  half  in 
contempt,  the  question  of  the  practical  man  of 
the  world,  to  whom  this  conception  of  a  king- 
dom buUt  on  truth  and  maintained  without  army 
or  exchequer  seemed  but  the  baseless  phantom 
of  a  harmless  religious  enthusiast  {Ellicott). 


39,  40.  It  is  apparently  at  this  point  in  the 
trial  that  Pilate  sends  Jesus  to  Herod;  on  his 
return  the  demand  is  made  by  the  people  for 
the  customary  release  of  a  prisoner  (Mark  15 :  s), 
and  in  reply  to  this  demand  he  makes  the  propo- 
sition, reported  by  all  the  Evangelists,  to  release 
Jesus.  On  the  character  of  Barabbas,  see  note 
on  Matt.  27  :  15-lS.  On  the  contrast  between 
Barabbas  and  Jesus,  see  Acts  3  :  14,  The  ori- 
gin of  the  custom  here  referred  to  is  not  known. 
It  is  diflacult  to  conceive  why  John  should  omit 
the  sending  of  Jesus  to  Herod  (Luke  23 : 5-7)  and 
Pilate's  wife's  dream  and  Pilate's  washing  of  his 
hands  (Matt.  27 :  20-25),  unless  he  wrote  with  the 
other  Gospels  before  him,  and  therefore  omitted 
what  they  had  sufficiently  described. — At  the 
Passover.  Not  necessarily  on  the  day  of  the 
paschal  feast,  but  during  the  Passover  week. 


Ch.  19  :  1-5.  The  scourging  of  Jesus  is  re- 
counted by  all  the  Evangelists  except  Luke,  and 
the  mockery  more  fully  by  Matthew  than  here. 
See  notes  on  Matthew.  Scourging  was  a  com- 
mon precursor  of  the  death-sentence ;  here, 
however,  it  appears  to  have  been  proposed  by 
Pilate  as  a  compromise  (Luke  23 :  le). — Aud  said, 
Hail,  King  of  the  Jews.  Some  manuscripts 
insert  the  words  they  came  unto  him,  and  this 
reading  is  approved  by  Tischendorf  and  Alford. 
It  indicates  a  mock  reverential  approach  as  to  a 
crowned  king,  with  obeisances  and  pretended 
homage.  —  Behold  the  man.  Pilate's  own 
sympathies  were  awakened  by  the  sight  of  this 
patient  sufferer,  and  he  made  one  more  attempt 
to  release  him  by  appealing  to  the  sympathies  of 
the  people.  In  this  act  the  commentators  see  an 
unconscious  symbolical  teaching  parallel  to  that 
of  Caiaphas  (John  11  :  51, 52) ;  Jesus  is  the  man,  the 
only  perfect  man,  the  ideal  toward  which  all 
aspiration  is  to  strive  (Ephes.  4 :  13).  The  scene  has 
been  a  famous  one  in  art,  and  the  picture  of 
Christ  thorn- crowned  receives  its  customary  title, 
Ecce  Homo,  from  two  Latin  words  meaning  Be- 
hold the  man. 

6.  When  the  chief  priests,  therefore, 
and  attendants.    The  original  here  signifies 


220 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XIX. 


7  The  Jews  answered  him,  We"  have  a  law,  and  by 
our  law  he  ought  to  die,  because  °  he  made  himself  the 
Son  of  God. 

8  When  Pilate  therefore  heard  that  saying,  he  was 
the  more  afraid  ; 

9  And  went  again  into  the  judgment  hall,  and  saith 
unto  Jesus,  Whence  art  thou?  Butf  Jesus  gave  him 
no  answer. 

10  Then  saith  Pilate  unto  him,  Speakest  thou  not 
unto  me  ?  knowesf  thou  not  that  I  have  power  to  cru- 
cify thee,  and  have  power  to  release  thee  ? 

11  Jesus  answered.  Thou  ■•  couldest  have  no  power 


ai  all  against  me,  except  it  were  given  thee  from 
above :  ^  therefore  he '  that  delivered  me  unto  thee 
hath  the  greater"  sin. 

12  And  from  thenceforth  Pilate  sought  to  release 
him  :  but  the  Jews  cried  out,  saying,  If  thou  let  this 
man  go,  thou  art  not  Caesar's  friend :  whosoever " 
maketh  himself  a  king,  speaketh  against  Csesar. 

13  When"  Pilate  therefore  heard  that  saying,  he 
brought  Jesus  forth,  and  sat  down  in  the  judgment 
seat,  m  a  place  that  is  called  the  Pavement,  but  in  the 
Hebrew,  Gabbatha. 

14  And  ^  it  was  the  preparation  of  the  passover,  and 


n  Lev.  24  :  16 o  oh.  6  :  18  ;  10  :  33. . .  .p  P3.38  :  13;  Isa.  53  :  7;  Matt.  27  :  15,14;  Phil.  1  :  2( 

s  Ps.  39  :  9 t  ch.  18  :  3  ;    Mark  14  :  44 u  Hcb.  6:4-8;   James  4  :  17 v  Luke  23  : 

X  Matt.  27  :  62. 


...vch.7  :  30  ;  Luke  92 : 53 
Prov.  29  :  25  ;    Acts  4  :  19. 


an  officer  answering  to  the  modern  constable  or 
policeman. —  They  cried  out.  The  priests 
mingled  in  and  joined  their  voices  with  those  of 
the  crowd.  The  sight  of  blood,  so  far  from  ap- 
peasing, only  whetted  their  revengeful  appetite. 
— Take  ye  him  and  crucify  him.  This  was 
not  a  sentence,  but  rather  an  endeavor  to  cast 
the  responsibility  of  its  execution  upon  the 
priesthood.  Comp.  Matt.  27  :  Si ;  Luke  23  :  35. 
That  they  felt  the  reproach  is  indicated  by  their 
reply. 

7.  The  Jews  answered  him,  We  have  a 
law,  etc.  Not  because  their  jjrevious  accusa- 
tion had  failed,  and  they  wished  to  present  a 
new  one  (Lange) ;  but  because,  the  death-sen- 
tence being  already  pronounced  and  ratified  by 
the  act  of  scourging,  they  felt  safe  in  disclosing 
their  real  animus.  The  object  of  their  reply  is 
to  justify  themselves  to  his  rebuke. 

8,  9.  He  was  the  more  afraid,  *  *  * 
and  saith  unto  Jesus,  Whence  art  thou  ? 
But  Jesus  gave  him  no  answer.  Pilate's  was  not 
a  superstitious  fear,  but  a  genuine  awe  produced 
by  the  personal  presence  of  Jesus,  the  power  of 
which  was  conspicuously  manifested  on  other 

occasions   in  his   life  (Luke  4  ■.  30;    6:8;    John  7  :  45,  46 ; 

18 : 6).  It  was  doubtless  enhanced  by  the  rejDort 
of  his  wife's  dream  (Matt.  27 :  19).  His  question, 
Whettce  art  thou?  is  to  be  interpreted  by  this 
awe ;  not  from  what  province,  for  he  knew  this 
(Luke  23 :  6, 7),  uor  of  what  jMrents,  for  this  was  a 
matter  of  indifference.  The  question  indicates 
that  even  skeptical  Pilate  vaguely  felt  that  the 
prisoner  before  him — the  King  of  a  kingdom  of 
truth— was  no  ordinary  man.  Christ's  silence 
was  a  bitter  rebuke.  Pilate  was  no  longer  an 
honest  seeker  after  truth.  Christ  ' '  kept  silent, 
in  fine,  because  he  knew  as  well  when  to  hold 
his  peace  as  when  to  speak,  and  no  word  that  he 
ever  uttered  was  fuller  of  inspiration  than  that 
silence  ;  no,  not  even  does  that  lofty  declaration 
to  Pilate,  'Yes,  I  am  a  King,  and  every  true  man 
is  my  subject,'  show  a  more  regal  dignity  of 
mind.  From  every  feature,  from  his  whole  per- 
son, it  spoke — spoke  of  a  world  of  power  in  him, 
power  to  rise  above  all  personal  considerations, 
and,  under  the  most  terrible  circumstances,  to 


find  entire  serenity  in  the  perfect  possession  of 
himself. " — {Furness. ) 

10.  Then  said   Pilate  unto  him.     His 

pride  is  piqued  by  the  silence  of  the  i^risoner. 
He  boasts  of  his  power,  and  so  seeks  to  extort 
an  answer  from  the  prisoner's  fears.  Observe 
thSitjwwer  he  had,  but  right  he  had  not.  "  This 
very  boast  was  a  self-conviction  of  injustice. 
No  just  judge  has  any  such  power  as  this  to 
punish  or  to  loose  (see  2  cor.  13  :  s),  but  only  pa- 
tiently to  inquire  and  give  sentence  according  to 
the  truth."— (yl?/b/-(7.) 

1 1 .  The  connection  of  Christ's  answer  here  is 
difficult.  It  appears  to  me  to  be  as  follows : 
All  civil  and  political  power  comes  from  God 

(Rom.  13  :  1 ;  comp.  Ps.  75  :  6,  7  ;  Dan.  2  :  2l).      EvCU  On  earth 

kings  are  recognized  as  the  administrators  of  the 
divine  wDl  (isa.  44  :  28 ;  45 :  1 ).  Caiaphas  and  the 
priesthood,  therefore,  in  delivering  J  csus  to  Pi- 
late, are  endeavoring  not  only  to  accomplish  a 
deed  of  injustice,  but  to  induce  a  divinely  ap- 
pointed minister  of  God  to  prove  false  to  the 
trust  reposed  in  him.  Therefore  their  sin  is 
greater  than  his ;  they  are  the  instigators,  he  the 
partially  ignorant  and  unwilling  instrument. 
Comp.  Luke  12  :  47,  48.  Stier  observes  that  Pi- 
late's ignorance  includes  him  in  the  Lord's 
prayer,  "Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do  "  (Luke  23 :  34).  That  most  won- 
derful declaration  of  the  O.  T.,  "He  knoweth 
our  frame,  he  remembereth  that  we  are  dust" 
(ps.  103 :  14),  receives  its  most  wonderful  illustra- 
tion in  Christ's  compassion  for  the  perplexed 
but  guilty  POate. 

13.  From  thenceforth.  Or  vzihev,  on  this 
account.  The  original  is  capable  of  either  ren- 
dering ;  but  Pilate  had  already  sought  to  release 
Jesus ;  he  now  made  a  new  effort,  moved  there- 
to apparently  in  part  by  his  awe  for  Christ,  and 
in  part  by  Christ's  expression  of  compassion  for 
him. — Thou  art  not  Caesar's  friend.  Of  all 
the  CiJesars,  Tiberius  was  the  most  suspicious 
and  exacting ;  and  of  all  crimes,  that  of  indif- 
ference to  his  interests  was  in  his  eyes  the  worst. 
In  these  words  of  the  priesthood  there  is  implied 
a  threat  of  an  accusation  to  Tiberius  against  Pi- 
late if  he  release  Jesus. 


Ch.  xix.j 


JOIIK 


221 


about  the  sixth  hour:  and  he  saith  unto  the  Jews,  Be- 
hold your  King  ! 

15  Hut  they  cried  out,  Away  with  A/;«,  away  with 
A/;«,  crucify  nim  !    Pilate  saith  unto  them,  Sliall  I  cru- 


cify your  King?     The  chief  priests  answered,  We^ 
have  no  kinu:  Init  Csesar. 

16  Then'^  delivered  he  him  therefore  unto  tliem  to  be 
crucified.    And  they  took  Jesus,  and  led  hhn  away. 


y  Gen.  49  :  10  ....  z  Matt.  27  :  26,  etc. ;  Mark  15  :  15,  etc. ;  Luke  23  :  24,  etc. 


ROMAN 
JUDGMENT-SEAT. 


13.  Upon  the  jiidsmeiit-seat  in  a  place 
called  Pavement.  The  judgment-seat  was 
probably  a  small  elevated  platform,  such  as  was 
used  among  the  ancients,  on  which  orators  stood 

to  address  a  concourse,  gen- 
erals to  harangue  their 
troops,  or  magistrates  to 
liear  causes.  The  accompa- 
nying illustration  from  a 
bas-relief  represents  Trajan 
sitting  on  such  a  judgment- 
seat  to  receive  the  submis- 
sion of  a  Parthian  king. 
The  employment  of  a  simi- 
lar platform  both  by  Pilate 
and  by  Floras  is  referred  to 
by  Josephus  ( T'F^y.s  of  Jews, 
Rom.  II  :  9,  3  ;  U,  8).  The 
Pavement  was  probably  a 
tessellated  or  mosaic  square 
in  front    of   the    tower    of 

Antonia,  on  which  the  judgment-seat  or  bema 

was  placed. 

14.  It  was  the  preparation  of  the  pass- 
over.  That  is,  the  preparation  for  the  Passover 
Sabbath.  The  strictness  of  the  Mosaic  law  re- 
specting the  Sabbath  necessitated  special  prepa- 
rations for  it  on  the  previous  day,  and  in  process 
of  time  the  whole  day  prior  came  to  be  known 
as  the  preparation  (Mark  is  :  42).  If  we  so  under- 
stand the  passage,  there  is  nothing  in  it  incon- 
sistent with  the  fact  indicated  by  the  other 
Evangelists  that  the  paschal  supper  was  taken 
by  Christ  and  his  disciples,  in  common  with  the 
rest  of  the  nation,  on  the  evening  preceding. — 
About  the  sixth  hour.  But  according  to 
Mark  it  was  the  third  hour  (Mark  15  ;  23) ;  and  this 
is  sustained  by  the  whole  course  of  the  transac- 
tions and  the  circumstances,  as  also  by  the  state- 
ments of  Matthew  ( 27 :  45),  Luke  (23 :  44),  and  Mark 
(15 :  33),  that  the  darkness  commenced  at  the  sixth 
hour,  after  Jesus  had  for  some  time  hung  upon 
the  cross.  Of  this  discrepancy  many  explana- 
tions have  been  proposed,  but  only  two  are  wor- 
thy of  any  consideration.  One  that  by  an  early 
error  in  transcription  the  sixth  was  substituted 
for  the  third  hour  here ;  the  other  that  John 
here  only  indicates  that  the  sixth  hour  was  ap- 
proaching, or,  as  Lange  renders  it,  it  was  c/oing 
on  towards  the  sixth  hour  ;  that  is,  the  third  hour, 
which  closed  the  preceding  watch  into  which  the 
day  was  divided,  had  already  passed,  and  that 
Mark's  language  simply  implies  that  the  third 


hour  had  already  passed  before  the  crucifixion. 
It  is  certain  that  the  ancients  did  not  fix  the  time 
with  as  great  precision  as  we  do,  and  that  in  par- 
ticular, as  Godet  says,  "  the  apostles  did  not  count 
with  the  watch  in  their  hands." — Behold  your 
Kins;.  The  previous  appeal  (vcr.  5)  had  been  to 
the  pity  of  the  people  ;  this  was  to  their  national 
pride. 

15,  IG.  We  have  no  king  but  Caesar. 
This  was  true.  By  this  very  act  they  disavowed 
allegiance  to  Jehovah  as  their  King  (1  Sam.  1.' :  12). 
They  were  thus  emphatically  guilty  themselves 
of  the  crime  of  blasphemy,  for  which  they  had 
condemned  Jesus.  Some  of  these  very  men  sub- 
sequently perished  in  rebellion  against  Caesar, 
thus  by  their  death  testifying  to  the  hypocrisy 
of  their  pretended  zeal.  He  who  refuses  Christ 
as  his  King  subjects  himself  to  the  despotism  of 
worldly  authority. — Then  delivered  he  to 
them  to  be  crucified.  Giving  them  a  guard 
of  soldiers  to  execute  the  decree.  Thus  Roman 
and  Jew  shared  in  both  decreeing  and  executing 
the  sentence. 

On  the  Character  of  Pontius  Pilate. — 
Concerning  Pilate's  life  before  he  became  pro- 
curator nothing  is  known,  except  that  his  name 
indicates  a  probability  that  he  was  a  freedman, 
or  the  descendant  of  a  fi-eedman,  connected  with 
the  Pontian  house.  He  succeeded  "Valerius  Gratu& 
as  procurator  of  Judea  and  Samaria,  about  the 
year  26  A.  d.,  and  he  held  the  appointment  for  a 
period  of  ten  years.  Secular  history  shows  him 
to  have  been  unscrupulous  in  the  exercise  of  his 
authority ;  and  instances  are  recorded  by  Jose- 
phus of  his  contempt  of  the  Jews.  His  behavior 
was  equally  tyrannical  toward  the  Samaritans ; 
and  on  their  complaint  to  Vitellius,  president  or 
prefect  of  Syria,  Pilate  was  ordered  to  go  to 
Rome  to  answer  for  his  conduct  before  the  em- 
peror. His  deposition  must  have  occurred  in 
a.  d.  36,  most  probably  prior  to  the  Passover. 
Before  he  arrived  in  Rome,  however,  Tiberius 
was  dead.  According  to  tradition,  Pilate  was 
banished  by  Caligula  to  Vienne,  in  Gaul ;  accord- 
ing to  Eusebius,  he  died  by  his  o^Ti  hand. 

Though  in  the  oldest  Christian  creed  his  name 
is  indissolubly  linked  with  the  cracifixion,  in  the 
phrase  "suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate,"  and 
though  he  was  directly  responsible  for  it,  since 
it  could  not  have  been  consummated  without  hi& 
judicial  approbation,  yet  that  approbation  was 
wrested  from  him  by  a  mob,  and  he  yielded  only 
when  further  resistance  would  have  hazarded 


222 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XIX. 


17  And  he  bearing  his  cross  went^  forth  into  a  place 
called  the  place  ot  a  skull,  which  is  called  in  the  He- 
brew, Golgotha: 


i8   Where  they  crucified  him,  and  two  other  with 
him,  on  either  side  one,  and  Jesus  in  the  midst. 
19  And  "  Pilate  wrote  a  title,  and  put  it  on  the  cross. 


a  Numb.  15  :  36  ;  Heb.  13  :  12  ....  b  Matt.  27  :  37 ;  Mark  IS  :  26 ;  Luke  1(3  :  i 


Ms  office,  if  not  his  life.  The  story  of  the  trial 
of  Christ  before  Pilate  is  the  story  of  a  conflict 
between  a  judge  who  appealed  in  vain  to  the 
moral  sense  of  the  priesthood,  and  a  priesthood 
who  appealed  not  in  vain  to  the  fears  of  the 
judge.  First  he  scornfully  bids  the  Jews  try 
Jesus  according  to  their  own  law,  knowing  that 
they  cannot  put  their  prisoner  to  death  (ch.  is :  31) ; 
then  catches,  in  the  clamor,  the  word  "Galilee," 
and  endeavors  to  rid  himself  of  responsibility  by 
sending  the  prisoner  to  Herod  (Luke  23 :  4-12) ;  on 
the  return  of  the  prisoner  to  his  custody,  pro- 
poses to  release  him,  as  a  customary  act  of  good- 
will, to  the   populace  (Matt.  27  :  19-23  ;    Mark  15  :  8-14)  ; 

orders  the  scourging,  in  an  idle  hope  so  to  satisfy 

the  clamor  of  the  mob  (Matt.  27  :  26-30 ;   Mark  15  :  15-19  ; 

John  19 : 1-3) ;  haviug  appealed  in  vain  to  their  pity, 
appeals,  also  in  vain,  to  their  patriotism  (John 
19 : 4-15) ;  and  finally  pronounces  sentence  of  death 
only  under  an  implied  threat  of  complaint  to  the 
jealous  Tiberius  Caesar  (John  19 :  12,  le).  But  it 
would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  in  this  pitia- 
ble conflict  with  a  mob,  which  it  was  PUate's 
first  duty  to  quell,  he  was  influenced  by  consid- 
erations of  either  humanity  or  justice.  The  con- 
tempt which  a  Roman  soldier  would  naturally 
feel  for  the  Jewish  priesthood  was  intensified 
into  a  bitter  personal  hate  by  the  fact  that  their 
cunning  had  twice  overmatched  his  strength — 
once  when,  immediately  after  his  inauguration, 
they  had  compelled  him  to  remove  the  hated 
Roman  standards  from  the  city  of  Jerusalem  to 
the  old-time  Roman  military  headquarters  at 
Caesarea  Philippi;  once  when  they  had  secured 
orders  from  Tiberius  Caesar  directing  him  to 
take  down  the  Roman  shields  from  the  vicinity 
of  the  temple.  The  one  sentiment  which  was 
strong  in  a  Roman  soldier  was  that  of  justice  ;  to 
be  compelled  by  a  Jewish  mob,  instigated  by  the 
Jewish  priesthood,  to  assume  the  judicial  robes 
only  to  do  flagrant  injustice  in  them,  and  that  in 
executing  the  Jewish  will,  angered  him.  He 
was  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  an  unscrupulous  and 
despised  hierarchy ;  knew  it,  and  fought  against 
the  humiliation  weakly,  and  therefore  in  vain. 
He  was  also  powerfully  affected  by  the  personal 
bearing  of  Christ.  "  If  there  is  any  power  in  the 
human  countenance,  in  the  eye,  in  the  voice,  in 
the  whole  air  and  manner  of  a  man,  that  power 
must  have  been  manifested  in  Jesus  in  the  very 
highest  degree.  *  *  *  Not  that  he  (Pilate) 
had  the  slightest  insight  into  the  lofty  nature  of 
that  power.  His  very  ignorance  of  it  served,  by 
creating  a  feeling  of  mystery,  only  to  heighten 


the  effect  of  it  upon  his  mind." — (Furness.)  And 
this  effect  was  still  further  increased  by  the 
dream  of  his  wife ;  for  skepticism  and  supersti- 
tion are  twins,  and  the  skeptical  Pilate  was  not 
above  the  universal  superstitions  of  his  times. 
All  these  elements  made  Pilate  angry  with  him- 
self and  with  the  hierarchy,  but  they  did  not 
serve  in  lieu  of  a  noble  resolution,  which  alone 
could  have  enabled  him  to  resist  the  threatening 
danger  of  an  emeute.  So  he  dallied,  argued, 
appealed,  yielded.  The  crime  of  Pontius  Pilate 
was  the  crime  of  moral  cowardice.  It  was  more 
appalling  in  its  results,  but  it  was  not  different 
in  its  nature,  from  the  many  manifestations  of 
that  crime  which  we  all  often  witness,  and  which 
most  of  us  sometimes  have  experienced. 

Ch.  19  :  17-42.    DEATH  AND  BURIAL  OF  JESUS.— A 

FAISE  JUDGE  WRITES  A  TRUE  EPITAPH  (19). — A  WEAK 
JITDGE  PROVES  HIMSELF  OBSTINATE  (22). — ThE  INHTT- 
MANITT  op  MAN  (34). — ThE  SYMPATHY  OP  CHRIST 
ILLUSTRATED  (27).—  ThE  FULFILLMENT  OF  ALL  SCRIP- 
TURE (28).— Eedemption  a  finished  work  (30).— 
The  HYPOCRISY  of  ceremonialism  (31).— The  na- 
ture, MEANING,  AND  CERTAINTY  OF  ChRIST's  DEATH 

(34,  35). — The  power  of  that  death  to  make  cow- 
ards COURAGEOUS  (38,  39).— The  sepulchre  in  the 

garden  ;  THE  TOMB  AMID  FLOWERS  (41,  42). 

The  accounts  of  all  Evangelists  should  be  com- 
pared. For  chronological  harmony  and  for  full 
notes  on  what  is  common  to  them  all,  see  Matt. 
27  :  32-56.  Several  incidents  are  peculiar  to 
Luke  ;  some  to  John.  The  latter  gives  more 
fully  the  division  of  Christ's  garments  among 
the  soldiers  (verses  23, 24) ;  alone  speaks  of  Christ's 
parting  words  to  his  mother  (verses  25-27),  and  of 
the  piercing  of  his  side  (ver.  34). 

17,  18.  The  cross  was  usually  borne  by  the 
condemned.  In  this  case  it  was  transferred 
from  Christ  to  Simon  the  Cyrene.  See  Matt. 
27  :  32,  note.  The  Hebrew  word  Golgotha  is  the 
same  as  the  Latin  word  Calvary  {Calvaria),  and 
means  a  skull.  The  location  is  uncertain.  For 
statement  of  different  hypotheses  and  picture  of 
most  probable  site,  see  Matt.  27  :  33,  note.  The 
two  others  crucified  with  Christ  were  brigands, 
one  of  whom  joined  in  the  taunts  of  the  multi- 
tude ;  the  other  rebuked  his  companion,  and 
sought  and  obtained  the  blessing  of  the  dying 
Redeemer.     See  Luke  23  :  39^3,  notes. 

lD-32.  And  Pilate  Avrote  a  title.  It  was 
customai7  to  bear  before  the  condemned  an  in- 
scription which  designated  his  crime  ;  this  was 
subsequently  attached  to  the  cross,  as  a  warning 
against  similar  offences.     The  inscription  in  this 


Ch.  XIX.] 


JOHN. 


223 


And  the  writing  was,  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH  THE 
KING  OF  THE  JEWS. 

20  This  title  then  read  many  ot  the  Jews:  for  the 
place  where  Jesus  was  crucified  was  nigh  to  the  city  : 
and  it  was  written  in  Hebrew,  and  Grciik,  and  Latin. 

21  Then  said  the  chief  priests  ot  the  Jews  to  Pilate, 
Write  not.  The  King  of  the  Jews  ;  but  that  he  said,  I 
am  King  of  the  Jews. 

22  Pilate  answered.  What  I  have  written  I  have 
written. 

23  Then  the  soldiers,  when  they  had  crucified  Jesus, 
took  his  garments,  and  made  four  parts,  to  every  sol- 


dier a  part ;  and  also  kis  coat :  now  the  coat  was  with- 
out seam,  woven  <^  from  the  top  throughout. 

24  They  said  therefore  among  themselves.  Let  us 
not  rend  it,  but  cast  lots  for  it,  wlio.se  it  shall  be  :  that 
the  scripture  might  be  fulfilled,  which  saith,''  They 
parted  my  raiment  among  them,  and  for  my  vesture 
they  did  cast  lots.  These  things  therefore  the  soldiers 
did. 

23  Now  there  stood  by  the  cross  of  Jesus  hismotlier, 
and  his  mother's  sister,  Mary  the  wife  of  Cleophas," 
and  Mary  Magdalene. 

26   When  Jesus  therefore  saw  his  mother,  and  the 


c  Exod.  39  :  22 


.  e  Luke  24  :  18. 


case  was  written  in  the  tbree  languages  of  the 
time — that  of  the  court  (Latin),  that  of  the  Gen- 
tile population  (Greek),  and  that  of  the  Jews 
(Hebrew  or  Aramaic).  It  really  affixed  a  stigma 
rather  upon  the  Jews  than  upon  Jesus.  Hence 
their  attempt  to  have  it  altered,  and  Pilate's  re- 
fusal. The  Jews  were  insulting  Jesus;  Pilate 
took  a  petty  revenge  upon  them  for  their  victory 
over  him  by  insitlting  them.  The  inscription  is 
reported  by  the  four  Evangelists,  in  all  of  them 
substantially,  in  none  of  them  verbally,  the  same. 
Thus  : 

This  is  Jesus,  the  King  of  the  Jews. — {Matthew.) 

The  King  of  the  Jews.— {Mark.) 

This  is  the  King  of  the  Jews.— {Luke.) 

Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  King  of  the  Jews. — {John.) 
Apparently  there  were  three  inscriptions,  in  the 
three  different  languages ;  some  commentators 
suppose  that  they  differed  slightly,  and  that  the 
variations  in  the  language  of  the  inscription  indi- 
cate the  variations  in  the  original.  See  this  inge- 
niously argued  in  Townsend's  N.  T.  But  the 
better  opinion  is  that  the  inscription  was  the 
same  in  the  three  languages,  and  that  the  verbal 
differences  are  such  as  we  might  expect  from 
individual  narrators,  who,  in  minor  details,  were 
left  to  their  own  recollection.  So  Robinson,  Al- 
ford,  Greenleaf,  etc.  Analogous  verbal  differ- 
ences are  to  be  constantly  met  with  in  the  Evan- 
gelists :  Matt.  3  :  11 ;  Mark  1:7;  Luke  3  :  16  ; 
John  1  :  37— Matt.  9  :  11 ;  Mark  2:16;  Luke  5  : 
30— Matt.  15  :  27  ;  Mark  7  :  28— Matt.  16  :  6-9 ; 
Mark  8  :  17-19— Matt.  20  :  33 ;  Mark  10  :  51; 
Luke  18  :  41— Matt.  21  :  9  ;  Mark  11  :  9 ;  Luke 
19  :  38— Matt.  26  :  39  ;  Mark  14  :  36 ;  Luke  22  :  42 
—Matt.  28  :  5,  6  ;  Mark  16  :  6  ;  Luke  24  :  5,  6. 
Pilate  illustrates  the  difference  between  firmness 
and  obstinacy.  In  yielding  the  crucifixion  of  an 
innocent  man,  PUate  showed  a  pitiable  lack  of 
firmness ;  in  insisting  on  retaining  an  insulting 
inscription,  he  showed  a  petty  obstinacy.  In 
this  inscription  he  was  an  unconscious  prophet 
of  the  truth  to  all  on-lookers — Greek,  Roman, 
•Jew.    Comp.  John  11  :  51,  52. 

23,  24.  The  account  of  John  of  this  incident 
Is  fuller  and  more  exact  than  those  of  the  other 
Evangelists.  Comp.  Matt.  27  :  35  ;  Mark  15  :  24 ; 
Xuke  23  :  34.    There  were  four  soldiers — a  qua- 


ternion— detailed  to  watch  the  execution  of  the 
sentence  of  the  procurator.  The  clothing  of  the 
convicted  was  the  perquisite  of  the  soldiers. 
The  outer  garments  of  Christ  were  divided 
among  them,  one  to  each.  The  inner  garment, 
or  tunic,  was  a  seamless  robe,  woven  in  one 
piece,  probably  of  wool.  There  is  no  ground  for 
the  fanciful  comparison  of  this  robe  with  those 
worn  by  the  priests,  as  though  it  indicated  a 
priestly  function  on  Christ's  part.  There  is 
more  reason  in  the  surmise  that  it  was  a  gift  to 
him  by  some  of  the  women  who  had  followed 
him  from  Galilee  (Luke  8  :  i-s).  But  this  is  a  mere 
surmise,  having  no  other  support  than  the  fact 
that  the  soldiers  seem  to  have  recognized  in  it  a 
peculiar  value,  a  garment  which  it  were  a  pity 
to  destroy.  Dice  were  in  Rome  what  cards  are 
in  modem  life.  One  of  the  soldiers  took  a  set 
out  of  his  pocket ;  the  helmet  would  have  served 
as  a  dice-box ;  and  thus,  under  the  shadow  of 
the  cross,  they  gambled  for  this  seamless  robe. 
The  incident  affords  a  most  striking  illustration 
of  the  inhumanity  of  man,  and  scarcely  less 
of  the  indurating  influence  of  the  passion  for 
gambling.  "No  earthly  creatures  but  gam- 
blers could  be  so  lost  to  all  feeling  as  to  sit 
down  coolly  under  a  dying  man  to  wrangle  for 
his  garments,  and  arbitrate  their  avaricious  dif- 
ferences by  casting  dice  for  his  tunic,  with  hands 
spotted  with  his  spattered  blood,  warm  and  yet 
undried  upon  them."— (iT.  W.  Beecher.)  The 
twenty-second  Psalm,  to  the  prophecy  of  which 
John  refers,  was  regarded  by  the  Jews,  as  it  has 
been  universally  regarded  by  all  Christian  critics, 
as  a  Messianic  Psalm.  A  curious  illustration  of 
fanciful  interpretation  is  afforded  by  Words- 
worth's treatment  of  this  scene,  though  he 
quotes  Augustine  as  his  authority :  The  parted 
garments  is  an  emblem  of  the  church  in  its  uni- 
versality, to  be  sent  out  into  the  four  quarters 
of  the  globe  ;  the  unparted  garment  is  emblem- 
atic of  the  church  in  its  unity,  to  be  kept  whole 
and  unparted  ;  the  gambling  soldiers  are  an  em- 
blem of  those  who  treat  the  unity  of  the  church 
of  Christ  as  a  matter  of  indifference. 

25-27.  Now  there  stood  by  the  cross  of 
Jesus  his  mother,  etc.  There  is  some  ques- 
tion whether  we  are  to  understand  by  this  verse 


224 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XIX. 


disciple  standing  by,''  wliom  he  loved,  he  saith  unto 
his  mother.  Woman,?  behold  thy  son  .' 

27  Then  saith  he  to  the  disciple,  Beliohl  thy  mother  !  ^ 
And  from  that  hour  tliat  disciple  took  her  unto  his 
own '  home. 

28  After  this,  Jesus,  knowing  that  all  things  were 


now  accomplished,  that  the  scripture  J  might  be  ful- 
filled, saith,  I  thirst. 

29  Now  there  was  set  a  vessel  full  of  vinegar:  and 
they  filled  a  spunge  with  vinegar,  and  put  it  upon  hys- 
sop, and  put  it  to  his  mouth. 


f  ch.  :3  :  23 g  ch.  2  :  4 h  1  Tim.  5:2. 


ch.  16  :  32 j  Ps.  69  :  21. 


that  there  were/owr  women  there,  or  only  three. 
Some  scholars  read  the  phrases  "his  mother's 
sister"  and  "Mary  of  Cleoijhas "  as  in  apposi- 
tion, and  suppose  them  to  refer  to  the  same  per- 
son ;  but  the  better  opinion  regards  them  as  dif- 
ferent persons,  the  mother's  sister  beiug  identi- 
fied with  Salome,  the  mother  of  James  and  John, 
who,  if  this  interpretation  be  correct,  were  own 
cousins  to  Jesus.  See  Note  on  the  Twelve 
Apostles,  Matthew,  ch.  10,  Vol.  I,  p.  14.8,  where 
this  question  is  more  fully  discussed.  It  is  im- 
portant only  in  its  bearing  on  the  question  of  the 
relationship  of  Jesus  to  James  and  John. — 
Woman,  behold  thy  son  ;  *  *  *  behold 
thy  mother.  Some  doubt  has  been  thrown  on 
this  incident  by  rationalistic  critics,  who  have 
thought  it  improbable  that  these  women  could 
have  been  standing  near  enough  to  the  cross  to 
hear  the  words  of  Jesus ;  or  that  they  could 
have  been  willing  to  do  so ;  or  that  the  incident, 
if  it  really  occurred,  could  have  escaped  the 
other  Evangelists  ;  for  it  is  peculiar  to  John. 
The  answer  to  this  criticism  is  admirably  given  by 
Dr.  Furness  :  "  Unquestionably  it  must  have  been 
agonizing  to  her  to  witness  that  awful  sight.  And 
it  would  have  been  no  less  agonizing  to  her  to 
keeiJ  at  a  distance  from  him.  May  she  not  have 
thought  within  herself,  'It  kills  me  to  see  him 
suffer  so,  but  I  cannot  lose  a  word  that  may  fall 
from  his  lips  ;  perhaps  he  may  sj^eak  to  me  ' '?  The 
women  friends  of  Jesus  stood  looking  on  at  a 
distance  ;  but  if  there  were  one  among  them  who 
stood  nearer  to  the  cross  than  the  others,  it  must 
have  been  his  mother.  Here  again  the  words  of 
Jesus  to  his  mother  and  the  beloved  disciple 
lose  the  living  truth  of  nature  in  our  Common 
Version,  which  gives  them  in  the  form  of  com- 
jilete  sentences,  'IFoman,  behold  thy  son,''  and  to 
John,  '  Behold  thy  mother.''  But  in  the  original  it 
is  '  Woman  !  look!  thy  son!  '  and  to  John,  '  Look! 
thy  mother!'  brief  as  possible,  ejaculatory,  bro- 
ken, and  in  the  fullest  accord  with  the  physical 
condition  in  which  he  then  was — a  state  of  ex- 
treme torture,  admitting  only  at  the  moment  of 
such  imperfect  utterance.  His  mother  was  not 
very  near  the  cross,  bitt  near  enough  to  allow 
Jesus,  by  a  strong  effort  mastering  his  agony,  to 
gasp  out  these  few  words,  leaving  it  to  the  keen 
sense  of  his  mother  and  John  to  make  out  his 
meaning.  Indeed,  if  I  could  suspect  such  an  inci- 
dent as  this  to  be  an  invention,  I  should  not  know 
what  limit  to  assign  to  the  inventive  power  of  the 


authors  of  the  Gospels." — {Notes  wi  Schenckel's 
Cliaracto-  of  -Jesus.) — And  from  that  hour 
that  disciple  took  her  to  his  own.    The 

words  from  that  hour  are  not  to  be  taken  literal- 
ly, as  though  John  and  the  mother  of  Jesus  did 
not  remain  till  death  had  brought  the  lingering 
tortures  of  the  crucifixion  to  an  end.  The  words- 
his  own  are  more  significant  without  the  addition 
of  the  word  home,  added  by  the  translators. 
John  took  the  mother  into  his  own  circle,  and  as 
his  own  mother,  from  that  time.  The  language 
does  not  imply  that  he  had  a  fixed  domicile  in 
Jerusalem.  This  is  not  inherently  probable,  for 
he  was  a  Galilean ;  and  certainly  nothing  re- 
corded had  occurred  to  make  any  of  the  disci- 
ples prior  to  this  time  inclined  to  take  up  a  per- 
manent residence  in  Jerusalem. 

28-30.  See  Matt.  27  :  17-49,  notes.  The  inci- 
dent is  common  to  all  the  Evangelists,  but  their 
accounts  are  quite  different.  John  alone  repeats 
the  utterance,  "It  is  finished,"  which  is  to  be 
regarded  not  merely  as  a  presage  of  death,  equiv- 
alent to.  The  era  of  suffering  is  ended,  the  era  of 
joy  begins ;  but  as  triumphant  and  prophetic : 
The  work  which  thou  gayest  me  to  do  is  finished 
(ch.  17  :  4) ;  and  this  because  Christ  died  once  for 
all,  thus  perfecting  a  sacrificing  which  needs 
never  to  be  repeated  (Heb.  9  :  as),  and  because  by 
it  he  offers  to  the  believer  a  redemption  which 
is  finished,  and  which  needs  not  to  be  supple- 
mented to  make  It  efficacious.  The  cry  of  almost 
despair,  "My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  for- 
saken me  ? "  was  followed  by  the  cry  of  triumph, 

uttered  with  a  lOtld  voice  (Matt.  27  :  50;    Mark  15  :  37; 

Luke  23 :  46) ;  and  then,  with  the  prayer,  "  Father, 
into  thy  hands  I  commit  my  spirit ' '  (Luke  23 :  45), 
he  bowed  his  head  and  gave  up  the  ghost.  Some 
scholars  {Ghrysostoni,  Hengstenbery,  Godet,  etc.) 
hold  that  the  reference  to  prophecy  here  is 
to  Psalm  69  :  31,  and  that  the  meaning  is  that 
Christ  said  "I  thirst"  in  order  to  fulfill  prophe- 
cy ;  others  {JSIeyer,  Lxithardt)  make  the  phrase 
"that  the  Scripture  might  be  fulfilled  "  depend- 
ent on  the  preceding  clause,  and  the  meaning  to 
be  that  all  things  were  accomplished  that  the 
Scripture  might  be  fulfilled.  This  seems  to  me 
to  be  the  better  interpretation.  The  other 
makes  Christ  utter  the  expression  of  thirst  for 
the  purpose  of  calling  forth  in  others  the  fulfill- 
ment of  a  prophecy.  It  may  be  remarked  here 
that  the  constant  use  of  the  phrase  that  the  Sa-ip- 
ture  might  be  fulfilled  gives  to  a  casual  reader  the- 


Ch.  XIX.] 


JOHN. 


225 


30  When  Jesus  therefore  had  received  the  vinegar, 
he  said.  It ''is  tinislied  :  and  he  bowed  his  head,  and 
gave'  up  tlie  giiost. 

31  The  Jews  therefore,  because  it  was  the  prepara- 
tion,™ that  the  bodies  should  not  remain"  upon  the 
cross  on  the  sabbath  day,  (for"  that  sabbath  day  was 
an  high  day,)  besought  l^ilate  that  tlicir  legs  might  be 
broken,  and  tliat  they  mis; lit  be  taken  away. 

32  Then  came  the  soldiers,  and  biake  the  legs  of  the 
first,  and  of  the  other  which  was  crucified  with  him. 


33  But  when  they  came  to  Jesus,  and  saw  that  he 
was  dead  already,  they  brake  not  his  legs: 

34  But  one  of  the  soldiers  with  a  spear  pierced  his 
side,  anil  forthwith  came  thereout  blood  p  and  water.'' 

35  And  '  he  that  saw  it  bare  record,  and  his  record  is 
true  ;  and  he  knoweth  that  he  saith  true,  that  ye  might 
believe. 

36  For  these  things  were  done,  that  the  scripture  • 
should  be  fulfilled,  A  bone  of  him  shall  not  be  broken. 

37  And  again  another  scripture'  saith,  They  shall 
looK  on  him  whom  they  pierced. 


k  ch.  17  :4.  ...1  Isa.  53  ;  10,  12;  Heb.  S:  14,  15.'...in  verse  42 n  Deul.  21 

q  1  Pet.  3  :  21....r  1  John  1  :  1-3.... a  Exod.  12:46;  Numb.  9  :  12  ; 


. . .  0  Lev.  23  :  7,  8. . .  .p  Heb.  9  :  22,  23  ;  1  John  5  :  6,  8. 
.  34  :  20 t  Pa.  22  :  16  ;  Zech.  12  :  10 ;  Rev.  1  :  7. 


impressioa  that  a  multitude  of  minor  incidents 
were  ordered  by  God,  and  unimportant  acts 
were  performed  by  Christ,  merely  to  fulfill  0.  T. 
prophecy.  The  reader  must,  however,  remem- 
ber that  the  Gospels  were  written  primarUy  for 
Jewish  readers  in  large  measure,  and  that  the 
test  by  which  every  Jew  determined  whether  or 
no  Jesus  was  the  Messiah  was  by  asking  the 
question.  Does  he  fulfill  the  ancient  prophecies  ? 
While,  therefore,  it  is  true  that  Christ's  life  does 
fulfill,  even  in  marvellously  minute  details,  the 
prophecies  of  the  O.  T.,  it  is  also  true  that  these 
fulfillments  are  pointed  out  by  the  Evangelists 
with  an  emphasis  which  in  our  time  seems  ex- 
cessive, but  which  was  not  so  in  their  age  and 
for  their  immediate  purpose.  Compare  the  apos- 
tolic speeches  to  Jewish  audiences,  as  reported 
in  Acts,  which  are  almost  wholly  devoted  to 
proving  that  Christ's  life  and  death  were  in  ac- 
cordance with  ancient  Jewish  prophecies. 

31-37.  Because  it  was  the  preparation. 
That  is,  for  the  Sabbath.  At  first  the  hours, 
then  the  entire  day,  immediately  preceding  the 
Sabbath,  was  called  by  the  Jews  the  Preparation. 
See  on  ver.  14,  and  more  fully  on  Mark  15  :  4.'2. 
The  Jews,  who  had  no  hesitation  about  compass- 
ing by  the  most  unscrupulous  methods  the 
death  of  an  innocent  man,  were  scrupulous  about 
leaving  his  corpse  to  hang  on  the  cross  over  the 
Sabbath  —  a  notable  illustration  of  Salibatical 
ceremonialism.  It  was  the  Roman  custom  to 
leave  the  corpse  to  putrefy ;  >this  was  forbidden 
by  the  Jewish  law,  which,  partly  as  a  sanitary, 
partly  as  a  ceremonial  regulation,  required  im- 
mediate burial.  See  Deut.  31  :  23. — That  their 
legs  might  be  broken.  A  barbarous  but  not 
uncommon  method  of  accelerating  death,  adopt- 
ed in  order  to  enhance  rather  than  mitigate  the 
horrors  of  the  execution. — Then  came  the 
soldiers  and  brake  the  legs,  etc.  The  im- 
.  plication  is,  of  course,  that  this  was  done  under 
the  orders  of  Pilate.  Nor  is  there  anything  in- 
consistent in  this  account  with  that  in  Mark  (Mark 
15 :  44),  that  Pilate  was  surprised  to  learn  that 
Jesus  was  dead,  and  inquired  into  the  certainty 
of  the  fact  before  giving  permission  to  Joseph 
of  Arimathea  to  remove  the  body.  For  when  the 
death  of  Jesus  was  reported  to  him,  the  circum- 


stances would  also  have  been  reported ;  and  thus 
Pilate  would  have  known  that  the  soldiers  found 
him  already  dead  when  they  came  to  break  the 
legs  of  the  three. — But  one  of  the  soldiers 
with  a  spear  pierced  his  side,  and  forth- 
with came  thereout  blood  and  water. 
On  the  physical  significance  of  this  fact,  see  be- 
low. Note  on  the  Physical  Cause  of  Christ's 
Death.  From  it  the  spiritualizing  commentators 
have  drawn  many  mystical  lessons,  most  of  them 
of  very  doubtful  profit ;  e.g.,  the  comparison  of 
the  drawing  of  Eve  from  the  side  of  Adam  and 
the  drawing  of  the  church  from  the  side  of 
Christ ;  the  necessity  of  both  blood  and  water 
to  regeneration  (ch.  3:5);  the  use  of  both  as  em- 
blems of  the  sacraments,  etc.  All  such  uses  of 
this  incident  belong  at  best  to  the  poet,  not  the 
commentator,  and  its  use  even  by  the  poet  must 
be  cautious,  or  it  becomes  unprofitable.  The 
object  of  the  spear-thrust  was  not  to  determine 
whether  death  had  actually  taken  place  so  much 
as  to  ensure  death,  if  there  were  any  doubt. 
The  record  is  given  partly  to  set  at  rest  the  an- 
cient Gnostic  skeptical  whim  that  the  death  took 
place  only  in  seeming ;  it  equally  does  set  at  rest 
the  suggestion  of  more  modern  skepticism  that 
Christ  merely  fainted  from  exhaustion  and  was 
subsequently  restored  by  the  disciples. — And 
he  that  saw  it  bare  record,  and  his  record 
is  true,  etc.  The  use  of  this  phraseology  shows 
the  importance  which  John  gave  to  this  particu- 
lar fact ;  partly,  perhaps,  because  it  established 
the  all-important  fact  of  the  actual  death  of  the 
Lord,  the  culmination  of  his  life  of  self-sacrifice, 
and  equally  the  foundation  of  that  proof  of  his 
divinity  which  is  afforded  by  his  resurrection 
from  tiie  dead.  But  I  believe  that  it  also  gives 
emphasis  to  the  real  cause  of  the  death  of  our 
Lord— a  broken  heart,  broken  for  the  sins  of  the 
world,  which  he  bore  on  the  tree.  It  is  also  a 
water-mark  of  authorship.  "  The  testimony  thus 
declared  to  be  veracious  is  just  the  record  itself 
which  the  narrator  was  setting  down ;  and,  as 
he  says  it  comes  from  no  other  than  the  eye-'wit- 
ness,  he  certainly  gives  us  to  understand  that  he, 
the  Evangelist,  is  also  the  disciple  whom  Jesus 
loved."  —  {James  Ilartineau.)  The  prophetic 
Scriptures  referred  to  are  Exod.  13  :  46  and 


226 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XIX. 


38  And  after  this  Joseph  of  Arimathsea,  being  a  dis- 
ciple of  Jesus,  but  secretly  for"  fear  of  the  Jews,  be- 
sought Pilate  that  he  might  take  away  the  body  of 
Jesus:  and  Pilate  gave  hiju  leave.  He  came  there- 
fore, and  took  the  body  of  Jesus. 

39  And  there  came  also"  Nicodemus,  which  at  the 
first  came  to  Jesus  by  night,  and  "  brought  a  mixture 
of  myrrh  and  aloes,  about  an  hundred  pound  weight. 


40  Then  took  they  the  body  of  Jesus,  and  wound  '  it 
in  linen  clothes  with  the  spices,  as  the  manner  of  the 
Jews  is  to  bury. 

41  Now  in  the  place  where  he  was  crucified  there 
was  a  garden  ;  and  in  the  garden  a  new  sepulchre, 
wherein  was  never  man  yet  laid. 

42  There  y  laid  they  Jesus  therefore  because  ^  of  the 
Jews'  preparation  day :  for  the  sepulchre  was  nigh  at 
hand. 


u  ch.  9  :  22  ;  12  :  42 y  ch.  3  :  1,  2  ;  7  :  60  . . 


2  Chron   16  :  14 . 


.  y  Isa.  S3  :  9  ;   I  Cor.  IS  :  4  ....  z  vene  31. 


Zech.  12  :  10.  The  first  passage,  "A  bone  of 
him  shall  not  be  broken,"  refers  primarily  to  the 
paschal  lamb ;  but  that  lamb  was  regarded  by 
the  Jews,  and  is  treated  both  by  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  the  New,  as  a  type  of  the  Lamb  of 
God  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world. 

Note  on  the  Physical  Cause  of  Christ's 
Death. — The  immediate  cause  of  Christ's  death 
is  veiled  in  obscurity ;  for  a  brief  statement  of 
various  critical  opinions  on  this  subject,  see 
Meyer's  notes  on  this  passage.  I  believe  that 
there  is  at  least  good  reason  for  the  opinion  that 
he  died  of  a  literally  broken  heart.  Crucifixion 
produced  a  very  lingering  death.  No  vital  organ 
was  directly  affected.  The  victim  rarely  died  in 
less  than  twenty-four  hours.  Instances  are  re- 
corded of  his  lingering  a  fuU  week.  It  was  cus- 
tomary to  dispatch  the  condemned  after  a  few 
hours  of  torture  by  speedier  means.  This  was 
done  in  the  case  of  the  thieves.  Pilate  was  sur- 
prised at  the  intelligence  that  Jesus  was  already 
dead.  The  guard  seems  to  have  shared  that 
surprise.  Up  to  the  last  moment  there  was  no 
sign  of  weakness,  no  decay  of  power  or  vitality. 
Jesus  conversed  with  the  thief  and  spoke  to  his 
friends.  His  last  cry  was  not  that  of  exhausted 
nature ;  he  cried  with  a  loud — literally  great, 
i.  e.,  strong  —  voice.  His  death  was  instant. 
There  was  something  remarkable  in  it — some- 
thing that  attracted  the  attention  of  the  centu- 
rion and  his  band.  It  followed  immediately 
after  the  cry,  "My  God!  my  God!  why  hast 
thou  forsaken  me  ? ' '  This  agony  succeeded  that 
of  Gethsemane.  In  that  midnight  struggle  the 
heart  and  blood-vessels  were  affected.  The  pal- 
pitation of  the  heart  was  so  intense  as  to  cause 
bloody  sweat — a  phenomenon  rare,  but  not  un- 
known, and  produced  by  intense  mental  excite- 
ment. That  this  was  a  truly  bloody  sweat,  see 
Luke  22  :  44,  note.  The  heart  would  probably 
have  been  weakened  by  such  an  experience.  A 
repetition  of  the  agony  then  endured  might 
truly  rupture  the  membrane  of  the  heart.  Such 
an  experience  has  been  known  to  produce  such 
a  result.  If  it  did,  death  would  instantly  ensue. 
The  blood  would  flow  into  the  pericardium,  an 
outer  sac  in  which  the  heart  is  enclosed  ;  there 
it  would  be  liable  to  separate  very  rapidly  into 
clots  of  extravasated  blood  and  water.  When 
the  soldier  thrust  the  spear  into  Jesus'  side,  it 


was  probably  with  a  double  purpose :  to  ascer- 
tain whether  Jesus  was  dead ;  to  ensure  his 
death  if  he  were  not.  For  this  purpose  he  would 
aim  at  the  heart.  The  spear  would  pierce,  of 
course,  the  left,  not  the  right  side,  as  portrayed 
in  nearly  all  art  representations  of  the  crucifix- 
ion. The  water,  followed  and  accompanied  by 
the  clots  of  blood,  would  flow  from  the  wound. 
It  is  impossible  to  account  for  this  phenomenon, 
not  only  recorded  by  John,  but  evidently  re- 
garded by  him  of  considerable  importance,  ex- 
cept upon  the  hypothesis  of  a  broken  heart,  or 
of  some  organic  disease.  Andrews's  hypothesis 
that  it  was  supernatural  has  nothing  but  a  de- 
vout surmise  to  sustain  it.  The  reader  who 
desires  to  investigate  this  subject  more  thor- 
oughly wUl  find  by  far  the  fullest  and  ablest  dis- 
cussion of  it  in  Stroud's  Physical  Cause  of  the 
Death  of  Christy  London,  1817,  especially  ch.  iv, 
pp.  73-156,  and  notes  iv  and  v,  pp.  389-420.  If 
this  is  not  within  his  reach,  he  will  find  a  brief 
but  adequate  statement  of  the  argument  in 
M'Clintock  and  Strong's  Biblical  Cyclopcedia,  art. 
Crucifixion. 

38-43.  After  this  came  Joseph  of  Ari- 
mathea.  Of  him  nothing  is  known  except 
what  may  be  gathered  from  the  accounts  of  the 
Evangelists  concerning  him  in  this  connection. 
Mark  implies  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  San- 
hedrim (Mark  15 :  43),  and  Lukc  that  he  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  condemnation  of  Jesus ;  probably 
was  not  present  (see  Luke  23 :  51,  note),  either  because 
he  knew  what  was  coming  before  them  and  that 
his  resistance  would  be  in  vain,  or  because  the 
others  knew  his  character,  and  did  not  summon 
him.  Luke  also  describes  him  as  a  "good  man 
and  just."  His  act  in  requesting  the  body  of 
Christ  after  the  crucifixion  was  one  requiring 
some  courage.  In  later  martyrdoms  such  a  re- 
quest cost  men  their  lives ;  in  this  case  it  must 
at  least  have  cost  Joseph  much  obloquy.  The 
site  of  Arimathea  is  entirely  uncertain.  The 
effect  of  Christ's  death  to  make  the  cowardly 
strong  is  noticed  by  all  commentators. — Pilate 
irave  him  leave.  After  making  sure  that 
Christ  was  really  dead  (Mark  is :  44,45). — Took  the 
body  of  Jesus.  This  taking  down  from  the 
cross  was  probably  done  by  the  loving  hands  of 
the  disciples  ;  this  is  more  probable  than  that  it 
was  done  by  the  Roman  soldiers.     Their  last 


Ch.  XX.] 


JOHN. 


221 


CHAPTER    XX. 

THE  '  first  i/ay  of  the  week  cometh  Mary  Magda- 
lene early,  when  it  was  yet  dark,  unto  the  sepul- 
chre, and  seeth  the  stone  taken  away  from  the  sepul- 
chre. 


2  Then  she  runneth,  and  cometh  to  Simon  i'eter, 
and  to  the  other  disciple,  whom''  Jesus  loved,  and 
saith  unto  them,  They  have  taken  away  the  Lord  out 
of  the  sepulchre,  and  we  know  not  wliere  they  have 
laid  him. 

3  Peter  "=  therefore  went  forth,  and  that  other  disci- 
ple, and  came  to  the  sepulchre. 


a  Matt.  28  : 1,  etc. ;  Mark  16  :  1,  etc. ;  Luke  24  :  I,  etc. . . .  b  ch.  13  :  23 ;  19  :  26 ;  21  :  T,  24 . . . .  c  Luke  24  :  12. 


duty  was  performed  when  they  made  sure  of  the 
death  of  the  condemned. — There  came  also 
Nicodeinus*  It  was  now  even,  that  is,  the 
early  evening,  probably  between  four  o'clock 
and  sunset.  See  Matt.  27  :  57,  note.  On  the 
character  of  Nicodemus,  see  ch.  3  :  1,  note. — 
Brou§:ht  a  mixture  of  myrrh  and  aloes, 
about  a  hundred  pounds  weight.  "Myrrh- 
resin  and  aloe-wood ;  these  fragrant  materials 
(Ps.  45 :  8)  were  placed,  in  a  pulverized  condition, 
between  the  bandages.  But  the  surprising  quan- 
tity (comp.  ch.  12 :  s)  is  here  explained  from  the  fact 
that  superabundant  reverence  in  its  sorrowful  ex- 
citement does  not  easily  satisfy  itself ;  we  may  also 
assume  that  a  portion  of  the  spices  was  designed 
for  the  couch  of  the  body  in  the  grave  "  (Meyer) ; 
or  to  be  burned.  See  below. — As  the  manner  of 
the  Jews  is  to  bury.  There  is  no  evidence 
that  the  Hebrews  ever  practised  systematic  em- 
balming, as  the  Egyptians  did.  In  the  O.  T. 
there  is  but  one  mention  of  any  such  practice, 
that  of  the  case  of  Asa,  and  he  was  not  properly 
embalmed,  but  laid  in  the  bed  which  he  had  pre- 
pared for  himself  "with  perfumes  and  spices" 
(2  chron.  16 :  14).  It  appears  to  have  been  the  cus- 
tom in  the  time  of  Christ  to  wash  the  body  and 
anoint  it,  then  to  wrap  it  in  fine  linen,  with 
spices  and  ointments  enveloped  in  the  folds,  and 
afterwards  to  pour  more  ointment  upon  it,  and 
sometimes  to  bum  spices.  In  the  case  of  Christ, 
the  approach  of  the  Sabbath  hurried  the  prepa- 
rations of  the  body,  which  were  not  yet  com- 
pleted at  sunset,  and  were  left  to  be  finished  the 
day  after  the  Sabbath.  Comparing  the  four 
accounts  of  the  burial,  it  appears  that  the  body 
was  wrapped  in  fine  linen,  with  some  of  the 
spices,  and  laid  hurriedly  away  in  a  rock-hewn 
sepulchre  in  a  garden  near  the  place  of  the  cru- 
cifixion, one  in  which  no  previous  burial  had 
ever  taken  place.      According  to  Matthew,   it 

belonged  to  Joseph  (Matt.  27  :  59,  eO;    Mark  is  :  46;    Luke 

23  :  53, 54).  For  illustratiou  of  the  body  prepared 
for  burial,  see  Acts  5  :  6,  note  ;  for  illustration 
of  Jewish  tomb,  see  Mark  16  :  3-4,  notes.  For  a 
striking  sermon  on  the  Significance  of  the  Sepul- 
chre in  the  Garden,  sorrow  amid  flowers,  see 
Harper's  edition  of  H.  W.  Beecher's  sermons. 


Ch.  20  :  1-31.    THE  RISEN  LOED.-The  testimony 

OP    ETE-WITNESSES   TO    TETE    KEStmRECTION. — ThE    IN^- 
TU1TI0N3  OP  LOVE    (8). — Thb  CONSOLATION  OP  LIFE  TO 


GRIBP  AT  THE  EMPTY  TOMB. — ThE  POWER  OP  ChRIST'S 

VOICE.— The  commission  or  Christ's  disciples  :  sent 
AS  Christ  ;  their  endowment  :  the  gift  of  the. 
Holy  Ghost  ;  their  authority  :  to  save,  to 
judge. — Modern  unbelief  in  an  ancient  experi- 
ence.— Christ's  answer  to  the  reluctant  skeptic. 
— The  object  op  the  Fourth  Gospel. 

The  accounts  of  the  resurrection  and  the  inci- 
dents in  the  life  of  our  Lord  between  the  resur- 
rection and  the  ascension  given  by  the  four 
Evangelists  are  very  different,  and  in  some  re- 
spects seemingly  inconsistent.  The  discrepancies 
have  been  magnified,  and  dwelt  upon  by  ration- 
alizing critics  as  a  reason  for  regarding  the  ac- 
counts as  unhistorical.  For  a  comparison  of  the 
four  narratives,  a  statement  of  the  difference* 
between  them,  and  a  hypothetical  harmony,  see 
Note  on  the  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  Mat- 
thew, ch.  28,  Vol.  I,  p.  330.  Alford  goes  too  far 
in  saying  that  all  attempts  at  harmony  are  fruit- 
less, though  certainly  all  harmonies  are  hypo- 
thetical, and  perhaps  at  best  only  show  that 
there  is  no  radical  and  essential  inconsistency  in 
the  four  narratives. 

1-3.  Matthew  says  the  women  came  "as  it 
began  to  dawn,"  Mark  "at  the  rising  of  the 
sun."  John  is  the  one  most  likely  to  have  been 
well  informed,  as  he  was  the  first  one  to  whom 
the  women  reported  the  facts  ;  and  his  language, 
therefore,  is  probably  the  most  minutely  accu- 
rate. The  time  indicated  by  a  comparison  of  the 
three  accounts  is  the  early  dawn,  before  the 
sun  was  fairly  up.  With  Mary  Magdalene  came 
Mary  the  mother  of  Joses,  Salome,  and  apparent- 
ly Joanna,  the  wife  of  Chuza,  Herod's  steward 

(Matt.  28  :  1  ;    Mark  16  :  1 ;    Luke  24  :  1,  lo).      That  Johu  TCC- 

ognized  that  there  were  more  than  one  is  indi- 
cated by  the  use  of  the  plural  here  in  the  report 
made  to  the  other  disciples  of  the  disappearance 
of  the  Lord's  body:  "We  know  not  where  they 
have  laid  him."  Meyer,  indeed,  argues  that  the 
reason  borrowed  from  we  know,  in  verse  3,  for 
the  plurality  of  the  women  at  the  grave,  is  out- 
weighed by  /  know,  in  verse  13  ;  but  this  is  fal- 
lacious, for  the  fact  that  Mary  was  alone  at  the 
grave  when  Jesus  spoke  to  her  would  not  prove, 
nor  even  indicate,  that  she  was  alone  when  she 
first  came  to  it.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  evident 
that  she,  with  the  other  women,  returned  to  the 
city  when  they  found  the  grave  empty  (ver.  2 ; 

comp.  Matt.  28  :  8  ;    Luke  24  :  9),  and  it  iS   probablC  that 


228 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XX. 


4  So  they  ran  both  together :  and  the  other  disciple 
did  outrun''  Peter,  and  came  first  to  the  sepulchre. 

5  And  he,  stooping  down,  and  looking  in^  saw  the 
linen  clothes  '^  lying  ;  yet  went  he  not  in. 

6  Then  cometh  Simon  Peter  following  him,  and  went 
into  the  sepulchre,  and  seeth  the  linen  clothes  lie, 

7  And  the  napkin,''  that  was  about  his  head,  not  lying 
with  the  linen  clothes,  but  wrapped  together  in  a  place 
bv  itself. 

"8  Then  went  in  also  that  other  disciple,  which  came 
first  to  the  sepulchre,  and  he  saw,  and  believed. 

9  For  as  yet  they  knew  not  the  b  scripture,  that  he 
must  rise  again  from  the  dead. 


10  Then  the  disciples  went  away  again  unto  their 
own  home. 

11  But  Mary  stood  without  at  the  sepulchre  weep- 
ing :  and  as  she  wept,  she  stooped  down,  and  looked^ 
into  the  sepulchre, 

12  And  seeth  two  angels  in  white,  sitting,  the  one  at 
the  head,  and  the  other  at  the  feet,  where  the  body  of 
Jesus  had  lain. 

13  And  they  say  unto  her.  Woman,  why  weepest 
thou  ?  She  saith  unto  them.  Because  they  have  taken 
away  my  Lord,  and  I  know  not  where  they  have  laid 
him. 

14  And  when  she  had  thus  said,  she  turned  herself 


d  Luke  13:30....e  ch.  19  :  40.  ...f  ch.  11  :  44....g  Ps.  16  ;  10  ;   Acts  2  :  25-31;    13  :  34,  35.. .  .h  Mark  16:5. 


she  returned  again  to  the  tomb,  following  Peter 
and  John,  to  sorrow  there.  For  illustration  of 
sepulchre  and  rolling  stone  door,  see  notes  on 
Mark  16  :  2-A.  For  account  of  the  rolling  away 
of  the  stone,  see  Matt.  28  :  3  and  note.  The  re- 
port of  the  women,  Tliey  have  taken  away  the 
Lord  out  of  the  sepulchre,  and  we  know  not  where 
they  have  laid  him,  shows  that  they  had  no  ex- 
pectation of  the  resurrection  of  their  Lord,  such 
as  rationalism  has  imputed  to  them  in  explaining 
their  belief  in  the  resurrection  appearances  as 
freaks  of  a  sanguine  and  excited  imagination. 
They  supposed  that  the  grave  had  been  robbed 
by  Christ's  enemies,  and  the  body  hidden  ;  and, 
in  fact,  this  method  of  accounting  for  the  disap- 
pearance of  the  Lord's  body  is  to  be  found  in 
some  of  the  later  Jewish  writings,  though  it  has 
never  gained  credence  even  among  rationalistic 
critics. 

4-10.  This  narrative  bears  the  unmistakable 
impress  of  coming  from  an  eye-witness,  and  all  the 
commentators  recognize  its  striking  accordance 
with  the  well-known  characteristics  of  the  two 
disciples.  The  information,  which  from  Mat- 
thew's and  Luke's  accounts  we  should  suppose 
to  have  been  given  to  all  the  disciples,  appears 
from  John's  more  minute  narrative  to  have  been 
given  only  to  Peter  and  John,  for  there  is  little 
doubt  that  John  refers  to  himself  in  the  phrase 
"the  other  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved."  See 
eh.  13  :  23,  note.  They  were  both  greatly  ex- 
cited by  the  news  of  the  supposed  desecration 
of  the  tomb,  and  hastened  to  the  spot  to  see  for 
themselves.  Mary  Magdalene,  as  the  sequel 
shows,  followed  them  more  slowly.  John,  who 
there  is  reason  to  believe  was  the  younger,  and 
therefore  not  improbably  the  more  agile  of  the 
two,  reached  the  sepulchre  first,  but  was  awed 
at  approaching  the  grave  of  his  Lord,  and  waited 
without,  simply  looking  in  through  the  open 
door  to  assure  himself  that  the  tomb  was  really 
empty.  Peter,  who  was  never  hindered  by  his 
sense  of  reverence,  entered  the  sepulchre  boldly 
as  soon  as  he  arrived,  and  John  followed  him. 
They  found  the  tomb  empty,  but  the  winding- 
sheet  in  which  the  body  was  wrapped  (ch.  19 :  40, 
note),  and  the  napkin  that  was  about  the  head, 


were  folded  and  laid  in  so  orderly  a  manner  as 
to  negative  the  opinion  that  the  grave  had  been 
rifled.  The  moment  John  saw  the  contents  of 
the  tomb  the  truth  flashed  upon  his  mind.  His 
quick  intuitions  recalled  and  interpreted  Christ's 
misunderstood  prophecies  of  his  own  resurrec- 
tion :  he  saw  and  believed.  To  interpret  this 
phrase  as  meaning  simply  "  he  saw  that  the  body 
of  Jesus  was  not  there,  and  believed  that  it  had 
been  removed,  as  Mary  Magdalene  had  said  " 
(Bengel),  is  to  do  violence  to  the  original,  for 
John  habitually  uses  this  word  believed  (/riarti'tu) 
of  spiritual  apprehension.  Nor  is  there  any 
boast  in  the  implication  that  he  alone  believed  ; 
the  fact  is  important,  for  we  thus  learn  when  the 
faith  in  a  risen  Saviour  first  dawned  on  human- 
ity ;  and  John  could  not  state  it  more  modestly. 

11-13.  Mary,  who  apparently  had  followed 
Peter  and  John  to  the  sepulchre,  remained  after 
their  departure,  to  weep.  She  also  stooped  and 
looked  into  the  sepulchre,  but  she  was  so  pre- 
occupied with  the  conclusion  which  she  had  al- 
ready hastily  formed,  that  the  orderly  arrange- 
ment of  the  grave-clothes  produced  no  efEect 
upon  her  mind.  For  her  some  further  disclosure 
of  the  truth  was  necessary ;  to  her,  therefore, 
the  angels  appeared.  Mary  is  not  startled  either 
at  their  appearance  or  their  words  (comp.  Luke  1 :  29) ; 
perhaps  she  is  too  entirely  absorbed  in  her  grief 
at  the  disappearance  of  the  Lord's  body.  In  an- 
swer to  their  question  she  repeats  what  she  had 
reported  to  the  disciples:  "They  (the  Lord's 
enemies)  have  taken  away  my  Lord,  and  I  know 
not  where  they  have  laid  him."  It  is  by  a  very 
forced  accommodation  that  this  text  is  applied 
to  or  used  to  illustrate  that  philosophy  which 
denies  the  divinity  and  atonement  of  Christ ;  for 
here  it  was  the  outward  crucified  tabernacle 
which  had  been  taken  away,  that  the  victorious 
Spirit  might  be  more  effectively  imparted.  The 
objection  of  rationalistic  critics  that  the  angels 
had  not  been  seen  by  Peter  and  John  is  Avell  an- 
swered by  Godet :  "Angels  are  not  Aisible  and 
immovable,  like  stone  statues." 

14,  lij.  Mary  turned  back  from  looking  into 
the  tomb,  not  attracted  by  any  sound  of  Christ's 
approach — at  least  of  this  there  is  no  intimation 


Ch.  XX.] 


JOHN. 


229 


back,  and'  saw  Jesus  standing,  and  knew  not  J  that  it 
was  Jesus. 

15  Jesus  saitli  unto  her.  Woman,  why  wcepest  thou  ? 
whom  seekest  thou  ?  She,  supposing  him  to  be  the 
gardener,  saith  unto  him,  Sir,  it  thou  have  borne  him 
hence,  tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid  him,  and'' I  will 
take  him  away. 

16  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Mary.'  She  turned  ">  her- 
self, and  saith  unto  him,  Rabboni ;  which  is  to  say, 
Master. 


17  Jesus  saith  unto  her.  Touch  me  not ;  for  I  am  not 
yet  ascended  to  my  Father  :  but  go  to  my  brethren," 
and  say  unto  them,  I "  ascend  unto  my  father,  and'p 
your  Father;  and  to  my 'i  God,  and  your"^  God. 

18  Mary  Magdalene  came"  and  told  the  disciples 
that  she  had  seen  the  Lord,  and  that  he  had  spoken 
these  things  unto  her. 

19  Then'  the  same  day  at  evening,  being  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  when  the  doors  were  shut  where  the 
disciples  were  assembled  for  fear  of  the  Jews,  came 


i  Matt.  28  :  9  ;    Mark  16:9 j  ch.  21  :  4  ;   Luke  24  :  16,  31 k  Cant.  .3:2 I  ch.  10  :  .3  ;  Isa.  43  :  1 m  Cant.  3:4        n  Pa  -12  •  22  •  Rom 

8  :  29;  Heb.  2  :  II....0  ch.  16  :  28 p  Rom.  8  :  14,  15;  2  Cor.  6  :  18  ;  Gal.  :;  -.ii;  4  :  6,  7 q  Epbes.  1  :  17 r  Gen.  17  :  7,  8 ;  Ps.43:4  5" 

"        "1:  10.... t  Mark  16  :  14; 'Luke  24  :  36 J 


Zech.  13:9;   Heb.  11  :  16  ;  Rev.  21  :  3. . .  .8  Matt. 


in  the  narrative — but  more  probably  in  the  very- 
restlessness  of  grief.  Her  failure  to  recognize 
Jesus  is  best  explained,  not  by  any  natural  cause, 
as  the  dimness  of  the  morning  light,  or  her  inat- 
tention to  the  person  of  the  supposed  stranger, 
but  by  the  analogous  experience  of  the  disciples 
in  their  walk  to  Emmaus,  when  Christ  appeared 
to  them  "in  another  form"  (Mark  16:12),  and 
"their  eyes  were  holden,  that  they  should  not 
know  him  "  (Luke  24 :  16).  Mary's  surmise  that  the 
unknown  was  the  gardener  was  a  natural  one. 
"Who  else  could  it  be  in  the  garden  so  early  in 
the  morning?" — {Meyer.)  The  elaborate  discus- 
sion of  the  question  whether  he  had  on  the 
clothing  of  a  gardener  is  a  somewhat  striking 
illustration  of  the  profitless  and  wholly  fruitless 
debate  which  is  unhappily  only  too  common  in 
Biblical  interpretation.  In  the  wildness  of  her 
grief  she  surmised  that  the  gardener  might  know 
what  had  become  of  the  body,  might  even  have 
taken  part  in  its  removal — a  wild  surmise,  since 
the  tomb  and  the  garden  both  belonged  to  a  dis- 
ciple of  Christ  (Matt.  27  :  60).  Her  assurance,  "I 
will  take  him  away,"  is  made  in  the  strength  of 
a  love  which  promises  without  reflecting  whether 
it  can  perform. 

16-18.  Christ's  utterance  of  her  name  in  well- 
remembered  accents  disclosed  him  to  her.  She 
had  before  but  listlessly  regarded  him  ;  she  now 
turned  fully  toward  him,  instantly  recognized 
him,  responded  to  her  name  with  a  word  full  of 
reverential  affection — '■'■Rabboni,  Master'''' — and 
would  have  thrown  herself  at  his  feet  and  em- 
braced him  but  for  his  prohibition.  In  an  instant 
she  was  translated  from  the  profoundest  grief 
to  the  most  exalted  ecstasy  of  love,  but  her  in- 
tended expression  of  that  love  did  not  accord 
with  that  spiritual  communion  which  the  risen 
Lord  proposed  to  vouchsafe  to  his  disciples. 
The  original  rendered  touch  (umo))  signifies  liter- 
ally to  hang  upon  some  one.  "She  desired  to 
seize,  grasp,  hold  Jesus,  in  order  to  enjoy  his 
society  and  to  satisfy  her  love  (comp.  Luke  7 :  36)." — 
(Luihardt.)  Or,  perhaps,  to  convince  herself 
that  she  was  not  under  an  illusion,  and  to  hold 
fast  to  the  Christ  whom  she  had  already  twice 
lost — once  in  the  crucifixion,  once  in  the  disap- 
pearance of  the  body  from  the  tomb.     There 


appears  to  be  an  inconsistency  between  Christ's 
prohibition  here  and  the  statement  in  Matt.  28  : 
9  that  the  women  "  came  and  held  him  by  the 
feet."  I  believe  the  account  there  to  be  an 
imperfect  report  of  the  event  more  accurately 
reported  here.  See  note  on  Matt.  28  :  9,  10. 
Why  the  fact  that  Christ  had  not  yet  ascended 
to  his  Father  should  be  assigned  as  a  reason  for 
not  embracing  him  has  given  rise  to  much  dis- 
cussion among  the  commentators.  An  account 
of  the  explanations  which  have  been  afforded, 
some  of  which  are  fanciful  to  the  verge  of  ab- 
surdity, may  be  found  both  in  Luthardt  and 
Meyer.  The  true  interpretation  seems  to  me  to 
be  this :  Chri.st  had  promised  to  his  disciples 
that  after  he  had  gone  to  his  Father  he  would 
return  to  be  with  them,  that  they  might  be  in 
him  and  he  m  them,  as  he  was  in  the  Father  and 
the  Father  in  him.  This  interpretation  of  his 
death  as  a  departure  to  be  with  the  Father,  and 
this  accompanying  promise  to  return  and  be 
with  them,  form  the  burden  of  his  discourse  in 
John,  chaps.  14-16.  He  restrained  Mary  from 
embracing  him  by  declaring  that  he  had  not  yet 
gone  to  the  Father,  that  the  time  for  the  fulfill- 
ment of  this  promise  of  his  fellowship  had  not 
yet  come,  and  that  she  must  yet  look  forward  to 
the  future  for  that  intimacy  of  intercourse  which 
he  had  foretold.  He  did  not  stop  to  enter  into 
fuller  explanations,  but  his  words  point  to  that 
spiritual  acquaintance  with  Christ  to  which  Paul 
gives  expression  in  the  declaration,  "  Though  we 
have  known  Christ  after  the  flesh,  yet  now  hence- 
forth know  we  him  no  more  "  (2  Cor.  s :  16).  But 
though  refusing  to  allow  Mary  to  embrace  him, 
he  conferred  upon  her  a  far  greater  honor  in 
commissioning  her  to  be  the  first  preacher  of  the 
resurrection.  By  characterizing  his  disciples  as 
his  brethren,  he  indicated  that  he  was  still  in  the 
flesh.  The  body  with  which  he  had  risen  was 
the  same  in  which  he  was  crucified.  See  Luke 
24  :  39,  note.  The  language  of  his  message,  "I 
ascend  unto  my  Father  and  your  Father,  and  to 
my  God  and  your  God,"  indicates  certainly  that 
the  sonship  of  the  disciple  is  not  the  same  as  the 
sonship  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God.  He 
does  not  say  our  Father.  Cyril's  interpretation, 
"My  Father  by  nature;  your  Father  by  adop- 


230 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XX. 


Tesus,  and  stood  in  the  midst,  and  saith  unto  them, 
Peace  be  unto  you. 

20  And  when  he  had  so  said,  he  shewed  unto  them 
his  hands  and  his  side.  Then"  were  the  disciples  glad, 
when  they  saw  the  Lord. 

21  Then  said  Jesus  to  them  again,  Peace 'i5,?  unto 


you  :  as  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so "  send  I 
you. 

22  And  when  he  had  said  this,  he  breathed  on  tkem,. 
and  saith  unto  them.  Receive  ^  ye  the  Holy  Ghost. 

23  Whose  soever  y  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted 
unto  them  ;  and  whose  soever  sins  ye  retain,  they  are 
retained. 


ch.  14  :  27 w  ch.  17  :  18  ;  Matt.  28  :  19  ;  2  Tim.  2:2;  Heb.  3:1 x  Acts  2  :  4,  38  , . . .  y  Matt.  16  :  19  ;  18  :  18. 


tion,"  is  just,  though  attributed  to  rathei*  than 
found  in  the  words.  The  Father  is  by  Paul 
called   "the  God  of    our  Lord  Jesus  Christ" 

(Ephes.  1  :  ll). 

19,  20.  Of  this  interview  Mark  gives  a  briefer, 
Luke  a  quite  different  report  (Mark  le :  14-16;  Luke 
24 :  36-49).  As  John  was  the  only  one  of  the  Evan- 
gelists present  who  has  given  any  account  of  the 
interview,  it  may  be  assumed  that  his  i§  the 
more  accurate.  It  is  possible  that  Luke's  ac- 
count of  Christ's  eating  broiled  flsh  and  a  honey- 
comb, to  convince  them  that  he  was  in  the  flesh, 
may  have  been  derived  from  the  subsequent 
interview  in  GaUlee,  reported  by  John  in  ch. 
21  :  13-14.  The  event  here  recorded  took  place 
after  the  appearance  of  Christ  to  the  two  disci- 
ples in  their  walk  to  Emmaus  (Luke  24 :  13-35).  This 
was  the  first  appearance  of  Christ,  after  the  res- 
urrection, to  the  apostles  in  a  body.  The  doors 
were  probably  not  only  shut,  but  locked,  as  a 
protection ;  the  fear  of  the  Jews  was  natural, 
for  it  was  reasonable  to  expect  that  the  crucifix- 
ion of  the  Master  would  be  followed  by  au  at- 
tempt to  pursue  and  punish  the  disciples ;  and 
this  natural  expectation  was  increased  by  the 
prophecies  of  persecution  which  formed  a  part 
of  Christ's  final  instructions.  The  fact  that 
Jesus  entered  through  the  closed  door  does  not 
indicate  that  the  body  was  other  than  the  nat- 
ural body  which  had  been  laid  in  the  grave ; 
and  Christ's  language  at  this  very  time,  as  re- 
ported by  Luke,  "  A  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and 
bones,  as  ye  see  me  have,"  appears  to  be  conclu- 
sive that  his  resurrection  body  was  his  physical 
body.  It  is  as  futile  to  ask  how,  with  a  natural 
body,  he  could  enter  through  the  closed  door, 
as  to  ask  how  he  could  walk  upon  the  water. 
Miracles  defy  explanation.  It  is  to  be  observed, 
however,  that  the  Evangelist  does  not  state  that 
Jesus  entered  through  the  closed  door.  He  sim- 
ply states  the  two  facts  which  came  within  his 
own  observation :  the  doors  were  closed,  and 
while  so  closed,  suddenly  Jesus  was  seen  stand- 
ing in  the  midst  of  the  disciples,  within  the 
room.  The  greeting,  '■'■Peace  he  unto  you,^''  was  a 
common  Jewish  salutation.  Like  the  salutation 
"It  is  I,  be  not  afraid,"  with  which  Christ 
greeted  the  frightened  disciples  in  the  storm- 
tossed  boat  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee  (ch.  6 :  so),  it  was 
addressed  to  calm  their  natural  perturbation  at 
the  sudden  apparition.     This  it  must  have  done 


the  more  effectually  in  that  it  recalled  to  their 
minds  the  benediction  of  his  final  discourse, 
' '  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto 
you  ;  not  as  the  world  giveth  give  I  unto  you  " 
(ch.  14 :  27).  The  showiug  of  his  hands  and  side 
was  further  to  convince  them  of  his  identity ; 
and  it  appears  probable,  from  the  language  of 
Thomas  (ver.  25),  from  the  report  of  Luke  (Luke 
24  :  39),  and  from  the  language  of  John  in  his 
Epistle  (1  John  1  :  1),  that  the  disciples  handled  as 
well  as  looked  upon  the  body  of  their  Lord. 

21.  This  is  John's  report  of  the  commission 
given  by  Christ  to  his  disciples  after  the  resur- 
rection, and  should  be  compared  with  that  of 
Matthew  (28 :  18-20),  which,  however,  appears  to 
have  been  given  later.  Mark's  report  of  the 
apostolic  commission  (Mark  16 :  15-18)  is  of  doubtful 
authenticity,  and  Luke's  account  (Luke  24:45-49)  is 
to  be  regarded  rather  as  a  summary  of  Christ's 
post-resurrection  instructions  than  as  the  report 
of  any  single  commission.  It  is,  as  Meyer  well 
remarks,  significant  that  the  mission  of  the  dis- 
ciples previously  implied  was  formally  and  sol- 
emnly ratified  at  the  first  meeting  after  the  resur- 
rection. On  the  significance  of  this  commission, 
see  ch.  17  :  IS,  note.  It  was  his  response  to  their 
exhibition  of  gladness  upon  seeing  him  again, 
and  implied  that  their  joy  in  their  Lord  was  not 
to  be  consummated  until  they  had  followed  him 
in  his  ministry  of  humiliation  and  sacrifice. 

22,  23.  He  breathed  on  them  and  said^ 
Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost.  Breath  is  a 
natural  symbol  of  life  ;  in  the  Bible  it  is  used  as 
a  symbol  of  the  divine  life.  God  breathes  into 
man  the  breath  of  life  (oen.  2:7);  in  the  vision  of 
Ezckiel  the  wind  breathes  on  the  dry  bones  and 
clothes  them  with  life  (Ezek.  37 : 9, 10) ;  in  Christ's 
conversation  with  Nicodemus  the  life-giving 
power  of  God  is  compared  to  the  breath  of  wind 
(ch.  3:8;;  and  it  is  significant  of  the  extent  to 
which  this  symbol  underlies  Scripture  that  the 
Greek  word  used  for  spirit  is  the  one  also  used 
for  wind,  which  is  poetically  represented  as  the 
breath  of  God.  Here,  by  breathing  on  the  apos- 
tles, Christ  symbolically  imparted  to  them  that 
divine  life  which  man  never  acquires,  which  God 
alone  can  give.  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghont  is  not 
to  be  regarded  as  a  promise  to  be  fulfilled  at 
Pentecost — it  is  not  equivalent  to.  Ye  shall  re- 
ceive the  Holy  Ghost ;  nor  as  a  full  bestowal  of  the 
power  of  the  Spirit,  which  came  not  till  Pente- 


Ch.  XX.] 


JOHN. 


231 


cost ;  but  as  an  earnest  of  the  gift  yet  to  be  more 
fully  bestowed  in  successive  endowments  through 
all  the  future  ages  of  the  church.  This  gift  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  to  be  connected  with  the  com- 
mission which  precedes:  "As  my  Father  hath 
sent  me,  even  so  1  send  you."  It  is  given  to  all 
who  accept  this  Christian  commission,  that  is, 
who  believe  in  Christ  through  the  word  of  the 
apostles,  and,  believing,  become  true  followers 
of  him.  It  is  also  to  be  connected  with  ihe  au- 
thority conferred  in  the  verse  which  follows. 
See  below.  There  is  a  possible  significance  in 
the  omission  of  the  definite  article  in  the  origi- 
nal, which,  if  literally  translated,  would  read. 
Receive  ye  a  holy  spirit.  We  receive  a  spirit  of 
true  holiness  only  as  the  divine  life  is  breathed 
upon  us  by  the  inspiration  of  God  (xitus  s :  4-6). — 
Wliose  soever  sins  ye  put  away,  they  are 
put  away  from  them ;  whose  soever  sins 
ye  retain,  they  are  retained.  This  passage 
is  confessedly  diflBcult  of  interpretation.  In  con- 
sidering it  I  endeavor,  first,  to  put  the  English 
reader  in  possession  of  the  exact  meaning  of  the 
original ;  next,  to  suggest  to  him  what  seems  to 
me  to  be  the  true  interpretation  of  the  passage  ; 
and  finally  to  give  him  briefly  other  interpreta- 
tions. (1)  The  word  rendered  remit  signifies  pri- 
marily and  properly  to  dismm,  put  away,  get  rid 
of.  As  applied  to  sin  in  the  N.  T.,  it  indicates 
not  a  mere  release  from  the  threatened  penalty 
of  transgression,  but  redemption  from  the  power 
of  the  sm  itself.  See  Matt.  6  :  12,  note.  The 
divine  forgiveness  of  sins  is  interpreted  by  such 
promises  as  those  of  Micah  7  : .19  :  "He  will  sub- 
due our  iniquities,  and  thou  wilt  cast  all  their 
sins  into  the  depths  of  the  sea  ;  "  and  Isaiah  44  : 
22:  "I  have  blotted  out  as  a  thick  cloud  thy 
transgressions,  and  as  a  cloud  thy  sins."  In  the 
first  clause  of  this  verse,  therefore,  there  is  no 
hint  of  any  power  in  apostle  or  apostolic  succes- 
sor to  forgive  sins,  or  to  declare  with  authority 
sins  forgiven,  or  to  declare  under  the  inspiration 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  what  character  and  on  what 
terms  sins  shall  be  forgiven.  There  is  simply 
the  declaration  that  when  the  disciple  of  Christ, 
acting  under  his  Master's  commission  and  with 
the  power  given  by  the  inbreathed  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  does  in  fact  put  away,  dismiss,  get 
rid  of  sin,  in  the  individual  or  the  community, 
the  work  shall  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord — the 
devil  so  cast  out  shall  not  return  to  find  the 
hou«e  swept  and  garnished  and  take  possession 
of  it  again  (Matt.  12 :  44, 45).  The  work  shall  abide. 
Thus  the  first  clause  of  this  verse  embodies  a 
promise  like  that  of  Isaiah  55  :  11,  and  is  inter- 
preted by  its  fulfillment  in  Paul's  experience,  as 
in  1  Thess.  1  :  4-7.  The  second  clause,  Whone 
soever  sins  ye  retain  shall  be  retained,  is  more  diflB- 
cult  of  interpretation.  The  word  rendered  re- 
tain primarily  signifies  to  possess  power,  then  to 


exercise  it.  It  is  employed  both  in  classic  and 
later  Greek,  with  many  derivative  significations — 
to  rule,  conquer,  subdue,  seize,  keep,  hold  fast.  It 
is  translated  in  the  N.  T.  by  the  terms  hold  or 
hold  fast,  keep,  lay  hand  on,  obtain,  take,  and,  here 
only,  retain.  It  is  sometimes  used  in  a  material 
sense,  that  is,  of  the  exercise  of  physical  power, 
as  in  Matt.  9  :  25,  he  took  her  by  the  hand,  or  Matt. 
2G  :  48,  hold  him  fast  (lomp.  verses  50,  56,  57) ;  some- 
times it  is  used  in  an  immaterial  sense,  that  is, 
of  the  exercise  of  a  mental  power,  as  in  Col.  2  :  19 
of  Christians  who  fall  away  from  grace  not  hold- 
ing the  head,  or  Mark  7  :  3  of  the  Pharisees  who 
hold  tlie  traditions  of  the  elders.  But  it  never  loses 
wholly  its  primary  and  gerrainant  significance  of 
the  possession  and  exercise  of  power.  It  cannot 
therefore  here  be  rendered,  without  a  violation 
of  the  original.  Whose  soever  sins  ye  permit  to  re- 
tain their  hold  on  the  sinner  shall  be  allowed  to  be 
retained;  some  real  exercise  of  power  on  the 
part  of  the  person  receiving  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  indicated.  There  is  also  an  antithesis 
apparent  in  the  original,  as  in  our  English  ver- 
sion, between  the  two  clauses  of  the  verse,  i.  e., 
between  remitting  or  letting  go  and  retaining  or 
not  letting  go.  We  have  the  same  antithesis, 
between  the  same  words,  though  there  used  in  a 
physical  sense,  in  Mark  12  :  12,  They  sought  to  lay 
hold  on  him,  *  *  *  but  they  left  him  and  went 
their  way.  It  seems  to  me  that  by  this  latter 
clause  a  power  is  conferred,  the  more  awful  that 
it  is  not  clearly,  and  perhaps  cannot  be  by  any 
possibility  clearly  defined — a  power  to  fasten  sin 
on  the  sinner  by  sentence  of  condemnation,  as 
there  is  power  to  put  away  sin  by  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  salvation.  This  power  is  given  upon 
the  conditions  implied  in  the  commission.  As  the 
Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  I  send  you,  and  in  the 
gift.  Receive  ye  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  that  is, 
it  is  conferred,  not  on  the  apostles  merely,  all  of 
whom  were  not  present  (ver.  54) ;  nor  on  them  and 
their  successors,  for  of  successors  the  N.  T.  fur- 
nishes no  limit;  nor  on  an  ordained  priesthood 
or  ministry  ;  but  on  all  who  accept  Christ's  com- 
mission, and  in  that  commission  seek  and  obtain 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  it  is  theirs  just 
in  the  measure  in  which  they  receive  and  act 
under  his  divine  influence.  (2)  I  read,  then,  in 
this  language  of  Christ,  the  bestowal  of  a  two- 
fold spiritual  power — one  of  salvation,  the  other 
of  judgment.  The  disciple  is  sent  into  the  world 
as  his  Master  was  sent  into  the  world,  like  him 
to  become  a  teacher  of  divine  truth,  an  example 
to  others,  a  manifestation  of  the  divine  charac- 
ter, a  bearer  in  his  omti  person  of  the  sins  of 
others.  See  ch.  17  :  18,  note.  But  also  like  him 
he  is  to  be  a  judge.  The  Master's  fan  is  to  be  in 
his  hand.  He  who  has  power  to  proclaim  salva- 
tion has  also  authority  to  pronounce  condemna- 
tion, and  the  one  declaration  no  less  than  the 


232 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XX. 


other,  when  uttered  under  the  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  God,  is  uttered  with  divine  au- 
thority. Instances  of  this  judgment  against 
wilful  and  determined  sin  are  aflorded  by  Christ's 
denunciation  of  the  Pharisees  ;  by  Peter's  con- 
demnation of  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  and  of  Si- 
mon Magus ;  by  Paul's  judgment  against  the 
offender  in  the  church  of  Corinth.  Illustrations 
of  perversions  of  this  power  are  afforded  by 
the  anathemas  of  the  church  of  the  middle  ages, 
and  perhaps  by  some  of  the  severe  denunciations 
of  the  Puritans.  It  has  been  variously  illus- 
trated by  preachers  of  judgment  from  the  days 
of  Jeremiah  to  those  of  John  Knox.  Such  a 
sentence,  when  uttered,  as  it  often  has  been, 
under  the  influence  of  malign  passion,  or  of 
ecclesiastical  ambition,  is  but  an  ill-sjjent  breath  ; 
but  when  it  is  the  voice  of  a  sj^irit  of  truth  and 
holiness,  aroused  to  righteous  indignation  in  the 
presence  of  inveterate  sin,  and  is  uttered  by  a 
soul  acting  under  the  conscious  influence  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  the  sentence  becomes  an  awful 
one,  because  it  is  an  echo  of  the  inaudible  sen- 
tence of  God  himself.  I  must  add  emphasis  to 
the  statement  that,  as  I  read  this  passage,  this 
power  belongs,  not  to  a  hierarchy,  priesthood, 
or  ministry,  but  to  the  Christian  soul,  by  virtue 
of  its  direct  life  in  and  with  God,  and  to  such 
soul  only  when  acting  in  its  highest  moods  and 
with  the  direct  and  conscious  influence  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  upon  it.  This  authority,  here  be- 
stowed on  all  who  are  inspired  by  a  divinely  im- 
parted spirit  of  holiness,  interprets  and  measur- 
ably explains  the  power  of  a  holy  soul,  before 
which  often,  in  the  history  of  the  race,  the  most 
august  personages  have  trembled,  they  knew 
not  why.  Of  course  this  interpretation  will  be 
at  once  rejected  by  those  who  would  abolish 
judgment  from  eternity,  much  more  from  this 
present  life,  and  treat  sin  only  as  an  immaturity 
or  a  disease ;  but  possibly  the  church  would  be 
more  efficient  in  its  proclamation  of  the  gospel 
to  penitent  sinners,  if  its  spirit  of  holiness  were 
sometimes  aroused  to  pronounce  the  sentence  of 
God  against  persistent  sin ;  perhaps  it  would  call 
to  the  Lord  more  of  the  publicans  and  sinners,  if 
it  had  more  of  his  spirit  of  judgment  against  the 
temple  traders  and  the  Pharisees.  (3)  The  prin- 
cipal other  interpretations  of  this  passage  are  the 
following :  (a)  That  the  Lord  gave  power  to  the 
apostles  to  absolve  men  from  sin  and  fasten  sin 
upon  them,  but  that  this  was  a  purely  personal 
power,  belonging  to  the  apostolic  age,  and  ceas- 
ing with  the  gifts  of  miracles,  of  tongues,  etc. 
But  this  interpretation  dissociates  the  power 
here  conferred  from  the  accompanying  commis- 
sion and  gift,  or  confines  the  latter  to  the  apos- 
tles, while  the  general  teaching  of  the  Scriptures 
gives  both  to  all  believers.  See  ch.  17  :  18,  20 ; 
Acts  3  :  38,  39.    It  would  exclude  Thomas,  who 


was  not  present  at  this  interview,  and  Paul,  who 
was  not  one  of  the  eleveii.  (&)  That  a  power  of 
infallibly  absolving  and  anathematizing  is  here 
conferred,  but  that  it  belongs  exclusively  to  the 
apostles  and  their  successors,  the  self-perpetuat- 
ing hierai'chy.  This  is  the  ecclesiastical  view, 
held  very  generally  by  the  Koman  Catholic 
church,  and  in  a  modified  form  by  many  among 
the  hierarchical  denominations  generally.  But 
there  is  neither  here  nor  anywhere  else  in  the 
N.  T.  any  hint  of  any  power  in  the  apostles  to 
appoint  successors,  nor  any  hint  that  they  ever 
did  so.  And  indeed  the  very  nature  of  their 
office,  which  was  to  bear  personal  witness  to  the 
facts  of  Christ's  life  and  death  and  resurrection, 
was  such  that  in  the  nature  of  the  case  no  suc- 
cessors were  possible  (ch.  is  :  27  ;    Acts  1  :  21,  22;    1  Cor. 

9:1;  15 :  s).  On  this  poiut  the  dictum  of  an  Eng- 
lish dean  is  significant :  "  This  gift  belongs  to  the 
church  in  all  ages,  and  especially  to  those  who 
by  legitimate  appointment  are  set  to  minister  in 
the  churches  of  Christ :  not  by  successive  dele- 
gation from  the  apostles,  of  which  fiction  I  find  in 
the  R.  T.  no  trace,  but  bj'  their  mission  from 
Christ,  the  bestower  of  the  spirit  for  their  office, 
when  orderly  and  legitimately  conferred  upon 
them  by  the  various  churches.  Not,  however, 
to  them  exclusively,  though  for  decency  and 
order  it  is  expedient  that  the  outward  and  for- 
mal declaration  should  be  so  ;  but  in  j^roportion 
as  any  disciple  shall  have  been  filled  with  the 
holy  spirit  of  wisdom  is  the  inner  discernment 
his."— (J^(/ot"(Z.)  (c)  The  power  here  promised  is 
one  which  in  a  very  general  way  accompanies  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel ;  that  it  is  a  promise  that 
"they  should  be  taught  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
declare  on  what  terms,  to  what  characters,  and 
to  what  temper  of  mind  God  would  extend  for- 
giveness of  sins."  This,  which  is  Mr.  Barnes's 
interpretation,  seems  to  me  entirely  inadequate. 
It  reduces  a  definite  and  positive  promise  of  di- 
vine ratification  of  human  judgment,  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  a  mere  enuncia- 
tion of  the  general  principle  that  the  ministers 
of  Christ  shall  be  ministers  of  the  truth,  (d) 
That  the  two  clauses  of  the  sentence  are,  the 
one  a  promise,  the  other  a  warning ;  that  Chris- 
tians remit  sin  when,  by  their  influence,  their 
example,  or  their  teaching,  they  induce  sinners 
to  repent  of  sin  and  abandon  it ;  that  they  retain 
sin  when,  by  their  negligence,  their  acquiescence, 
or  their  approval,  they  directly  or  indirectly 
help  to  fasten  sins  on  the  individual  or  the  com- 
munity ;  and  that  Christ  promises  his  disciples 
great  results  if  they  are  faithful,  and  warns 
them  of  equally  great  but  terrible  results  if  they 
are  remiss  or  culpable.  The  original  does  not 
seem  to  me  capable  of  this  rendering,  for  it  ig- 
nores the  fundamental  meaning  of  the  Avord  ren- 
dered retain  {xnviw),  which  always  indicates  some 


Ch.  XX.] 


JOHN. 


233 


24  But  Thomas,^  one  of  the  twelve,  called  Didymus, 
was  not  witli  tliem  when  Jesus  came. 

25  The  other  disciples  therefore  said  unto  him,  We 
have  seen  the  Lord,  but  he  "  said  unto  them,  Except 
I  shall  see  in  his  hands  the  print  of  the  nails,  and  put 
my  tinger  into  the  print  ol  the  nails,  and  thrust  my 
hand  into  his  side,  I  will  not  believe. 

26  And  after  eight  days,  again  his  disciples  were 
within,  and  Thomas  with  them :  i/te/i  came  Jesus,  the 


doors  being  shut,  and  stood  in  the  midst,  and  said. 
Peace  '■  ic  unto  you. 

27  Then  saith  he  to  Thomas,  Reach  hither  thy  finger, 
and  behold  my  hands ;  and  reach  hither  tliy  hand,« 
and  thrust  ti  into  my  side  :  and  be ''  not  faithless,  but 
believing. 

28  And  Thomas  answered  and  said  unto  him.  My" 
Lord  and  my  God. 

29  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  Thomas,  because  thou  hast 


z  ch.  11  :  16 a  Ps.  78:  11,  32 b  Isa.  26  :  12 c  1  John  1:1 d  1  Tim.  1  :  14 e  ch.  6:  23;  Ps.  118  :  28  ;  1  Tim.  3  :  16. 


real  exercise  of  power,  never  a  failure  or  a  neglect 
to  exercise  it.  See  above.  The  view  which  I 
have  adopted  is  not  very  widely  different  from 
that  of  Alford,  Meyer,  Rylo,  Calvin,  Watkins, 
and  the  best  of  the  Protestant  commentators 
generally,  except  that,  with  Godet,  I  regard  the 
promise  as  conferrmg  on  the  moral  judgments 
of  the  disciple  a  real  eflficacy,  while  the  com- 
mentators generally  regard  it  as  simply  a  promise 
of  wisdom  spiritually  to  perceive  and  declare 
judgments  which  sliall  he  in  accordance  with  the 
divine  will.  This  interpretation  is  also  adoirted 
by  some  of  the  more  evangelical  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  divines,  c.  (j.,  Quesnel  in  modern  and 
Cbrysostom  in  ancient  times,  both  of  whom  re- 
gard the  priest  as  an  ambassador  of  God,  and  as 
speaking  by  authority  only  in  so  far  as  he  is  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost.  "But  why  speak  I  of 
priests?  Neither  angel  nor  archangel  can  do 
anything  with  regard  to  what  is  given  him  of 
God ;  but  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  dispenseth  all,  while  the  priest  lends  his 
tongue  and  affords  his  hand." — [Chrysostom.) 
"That  such  a  judgment  may  be  pronounced 
upon  sinners  as  is  fit  to  be  approved  of  God,  and 
to  be  confirmed  in  heaven,  it  must  be  such  as  is 
according  to  the  Spirit  of  God,  who  is  given  for 
that  purpose,  and  to  the  rules  prescribed  by 
Christ  to  sinners,  of  which  the  priest  is  only  the 
minister. " — ( Quesmi. ) 

24,  25.  Didymus  is  the  Greek  equivalent  of 
Thomas,  which  is  of  Plebrew  origin.  Very  little 
of  his  life  is  known ;  but  the  two  other  occur- 
rences recorded  in  the  N.  T.  (john  ii  :  le ;  u  -.  5)  in- 
dicate an  affectionate  spirit  but  a  ske^jtical  intel- 
lect, a  man  who  loved  much,  but  believed  and 
hoped  but  little.  He  has  been  well  called  "the 
rationalist "  among  the  twelve ;  but  he  was  a 
rationalist  with  a  warm  heart.  The  incident 
here  recorded  shows  that  the  fact  of  the  resur- 
rection was  so  attested  that  it  was  accepted  by 
one  who  could  only  be  convinced  by  the  clearest 
and  most  convincing  proof.  The  reason  of 
Thomas's  absence  is  not  stated,  nor  even  implied ; 
but  the  conjecture  that  he  had  abandoned  hope, 
and  therefore  the  companionship  of  the  disci- 
ples, is  not  unreasonable.  His  language,  Except 
I  thrust  my  hand  into  his  side,  I  ivill  not  believe,  is 
that  not  merely  of  dejection,  but  also  of  defi- 
ance.   His  position  is  that  of  modern  positivism. 


which  refuses  to  believe  anything  not  verified  by 
actual  sensuous  observation  ;  his  demand  is  that 
of  M.  Reuan,  who,  to  substantiate  the  doctrine 
of  the  resurrection,  calls  for  the  successful  raising 
of  the  dead  before  a  commission  composed  of 
physiologists,  physicians,  chemists,  and  skilled 
critics.  See  Life  of  Jesus,  Intro.  But  Thomas's 
spirit  was  very  different. 

26,  27.  This  meeting  after  eight  days,  i.  e., 
on  the  eighth  day,  is  the  first  intimation  in  the 
N.  T.  of  a  commemoration  bj'  the  disciples  of  the 
resurrection  ;  and  there  is  nothing  to  show  that 
the  disciples  had  not  kept  together  in  a  continu- 
ous meeting  during  the  entire  week,  which,  it 
will  be  remembered,  was  the  Passover  week. 
But  it  is  certainly  significant  that  Christ  chose 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  on  which  he  rose  from 
the  dead,  to  make  his  second  appearance  to  his 
infant  church,  and  thus  gave  an  impulse  to,  if 
not  a  suggestion  of,  that  apostolic  commemora- 
tion of  the  day,  which  by  insensible  degrees  led 
to  the  transfer  of  the  Christian's  weeklj'  festival 
from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the  week. 
Christ  appears  as  suddenly  and  mysteriously  as 
before,  and  in  his  address  to  Thomas  echoes  his 
words,  a  severe  yet  a  tender  and  loving  rebuke. 
The  evidence  which  he  would  have  refused  to 
the  Pharisee  he  grants  to  the  disciple ;  the  in- 
imical demand  of  the  determined  skeptic  he  al- 
ways disregards  ;  for  the  intellectual  difficulties 
of  a  reluctant  skeptic  he  shows  great  compas- 
sion. But  he  shows  this  compassion  for  unbelief 
that  he  may  rescue  the  unbeliever  from  it,  and 
bids  him  become  not  unbelieving,  but  believirig. 
Through  his  doubt  of  the  actual  occurrence  of 
the  resurrection,  Thomas  was  in  danger  of  be- 
coming a  disbeliever  generally,  and  against  this 
danger  of  lapsing  from  a  state  of  faith  to  one  of 
unfaith  Jesus  warned  Thomas,  and  through  him 
warns  the  feeble  and  vacillating  believers  of  all 
ages. 

28,  29.  Thomas  was  overpowei-ed  and  con- 
vinced by  the  grace  of  his  Master,  not  by  the 
physical  evidence  which  he  had  demanded,  and 
which  was  vouchsafed  to  him ;  not  because  he 
handled,  but  because  he  saw,  he  believed  (ver.  29). 
In  this  appears  the  difference  of  his  spirit  from 
that  of  the  modeni  rationalists;  his  faith  finally 
rested,  not  in  the  sensuous  evidence,  but  in  the 
invisible  love  and  mercy  of  his  Lord.    The  mere 


23-i 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XXL 


seen  me,  thou  hast  believed  :  blessed '  are  they  that 
have  not  seen,  and  yet  have  believed. 

30  And  e  many  other  signs  truly  did  Jesus  in  the  pres- 
ence of  his  disciples,  which  are  not  written  in  this  book  : 


31  But''  these  are  written,  that  ye  might  believe  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  ;  and '  that,  believ- 
ing, ye  might  have  life  through  his  name. 


ch.  21  :  25 li  Luke  1:4 i  ch.  3  :  15,  16  ;  5  :  24  ;  10  :  10  ;  1  Pet.  1  :  9. 


fact  that  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead  did  not  demon- 
strate his  divinity,  nor  give  ground  for  Thomas's 
appeal ;  for  Lazarus,  too,  rose  from  the  dead. 
"  It  was  an  evidence  addressing  itself  not  to  his 
eyes,  but  to  his  heart,  which  forced  him  to  cry. 
My  Lord  and  my  G 06. .''—(Maurice.)  To  inter- 
pret this  utterance  as  a  mere  expletory  outcry 
is  the  shallowest  of  criticism.  It  reduces  a  sub- 
lime and  exalted  confession  of  faith  to  an  irrele- 
vant and  semi-profane  exclamation.  It  is  gram- 
matically, psychologically,  and  spiritually  unten- 
able ;  grammatically,  because  it  is  expressly  said 
that  Thomas  addressed  the  words  to  Jesus — he 
said  '■'■unto  him'''';  psychologically,  because  it  is 
equally  irrational  to  suppose  that  Thomas,  just 
convinced  of  the  resurrection  of  his  Lord  and 
Master,  should  break  out  into  a  mere  meaning- 
less exclamation,  or  that  John  should  have  re- 
ported it  if  it  had  been  uttered  ;  spiritually,  be- 
cause Christ  on  the  strength  of  this  confession 
of  Thomas  recognizes  his  faith:  "Thou  hast 
believed."  Equally  untenable  is  the  suggestion 
of  Norton  {Notes  on  the  Gospels),  that  "  the  name 
God  was  employed  by  him,  not  as  the  proper 
name  of  the  Deity,  but  as  an  appellation,  accord- 
ing to  a  common  use  of  it  in  his  day,"  for  no 
such  common  use  existed,  and  its  existence 
would  have  been  utterly  inconsistent  with  the 
Hebrew  laws  against  the  use  of  God's  name  in 
vain.  The  fact  that  Thomas  recognized  Jesus  as 
both  Lord  and  God  might  not  of  itself  be  con- 
clusive ;  there  would  be  possible  ground  for 
Norton's  argument:  "Considering  into  how 
great  an  error  he  had  fallen  in  his  previous  ob- 
stinate incredulity,  there  would  be  little  reason 
for  relyhig  upon  his  opinion  as  infallible";  but 
Christ  not  only  accepts,  he  distinctly  approves 
and  ratifies  Thomas's  confession,  and  the  faith 
of  the  church  rests  not  on  the  words  of  the  dis- 
ciple, but  on  their  approbation  by  his  Lord. 
Thomas's  words  here,  then,  are  to  be  read  in  the 
light  of  Christ's  words  in  chaps.  13-17 ;  the  dis- 
ciple accepts  in  a  single  sentence  Christ's  teach- 
ing respecting  himself  as  the  one  sent  from  and 
manifesting  to  the  world  the  eternal  Father.  It 
is  the  answer  of  a  suddenly  awakened  faith  to 
the  before  ill-comprehended  declaration.  He  that 
hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father.  In  his  re- 
sponse. Blessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen,  and  yet 
have  believed,  Jesus  recognizes  two  kinds  of  belief, 
one  which  rests  on  seeing  or  on  the  witness  of 
those  that  have  seen,  the  other  and  higher  that 
which  rests  simply  on   spiritual  apprehension. 


Parallel  to  the  implied  contrast  here  is  that  in 
John  14  :  11,  "Believe  me  that  I  am  in  the  Fa- 
ther, and  the  Father  in  me ;  or  else  believe  me 
for  the  very  work's  sake." 

30,  31.  These  verses  constitute  the  formal 
close  of  John's  Gospel,  ch.  21  being  an  appendix. 
See  Prel.  Note  there.  The  '■'■many  other  signs''^ 
referred  to  are  not  necessarily  only  or  chiefly 
those  wrought  after  the  resurrection,  but  in- 
clude those  recorded  by  the  other  Evangelists, 
as  well  as  such  as  have  not  been  recorded.  On 
the  object  of  John  in  his  Gospel  as  here  indi- 
cated, see  Intro.,  p.  11.  That  object  was  three- 
fold :  (1)  That  the  readers  might  have  faith  that 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  the  Messiah  of  prophecy ; 
(3)  that  they  might  spiritually  recognize  in  this 
Messiah  the  well-beloved  Son  of  God;  (3)  that, 
believing  in  bis  Messiahship  and  divinity,  they 
might  become  partakers  of  his  life.  Life  (^wi;)  in 
John's  usage  always  signifies  spiritual  life,  and 
the  name  of  Christ,  in  which  this  life  is  to  be  at- 
tained, stands  for  Christ  himself  in  all  the  gra- 
cious offices  which  his  names  indicate,  as  Jesus 
or  Saviour,  Christ  or  Messiah,  and  Emmanuel  or 
God  with  us.  

Ch.  21  ;  1-25.  APPENDIX  TO  JOHN'S  GOSPEL,— Wait- 
ENG  FOB  Christ  while  we  work  (3).— The  power  op 
THE  Lord  over  nature  (6).— Love  sees  most  quick- 
ly;   ZEAL  ACTS  MOST  QUICKLY  (7).— ChRIST  PROVTDES 

for  our  simplest  wants  ;  pike  for  the  cold,  food 
FOR  the  hungry  (9). — A  true  proof  op  love  for 
Christ:  shepherding  his  sheep  (15-17).— Sebvicb 
and  suffering  are  both  following  christ  (18). — 

The    IMPERTINENCE    OF    CURIOSITY    REBUKED    (21-23). 

—The  last  word  and  the  first  word  of  Christ 
THE  same,  Follow  me. 

Preliminary  Note. — All  modern  critics  agree 
in  regarding  this  chapter  as  in  the  nature  of  a 
supplement,  the  original  Gospel  having  been 
brought  to  a  close  in  the  last  verses  of  the  pre- 
ceding chapter.  This  opinion  is  based  chiefly 
upon  the  formal  close  afforded  by  those  verses. 
That  this  supplemental  chapter  was  written  at  a 
very  early  period,  and  probably  before  the  Gos- 
pel itself  was  given  to  the  public,  is  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  it  is  found  in  all  the  manuscripts. 
Whether  it  was  written  by  John  himself  or  by  some 
disciple  or  friend  is  not  altogether  clear,  and  cer- 
tainly not  very  important ;  but  the  evangelical 
critics  generally  agree,  from  a  careful  considera- 
tion of  its  internal  characteristics,  in  attributing  it 
to  John  himself.  Thus  ALford  :  "  The  reader  will 
have  perceived  in  the  foregoing  comment  on  the 


<Jh.  XXL] 


JOHN. 


235 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

AFTER  these  things  Jesus  shewed  himself  again  to 
the  disciples  at  tlie  sea  of  Tiberias  ;  and  on  this 
wise  shewed  lie  Idiuself. 

2   There  were  together  Simon   Peter,  and  Thomas 
called  Didymus,  and  J  Nathanael  of  Cana  in  Galilee, 


and  the  sons^  of  Zebedee,  and  two  other  of  his  disci- 
ples. 

3  Simon  Peter  saith  unto  them,  I  go  a  fishing.  They 
say  unto  him,  We  also  go  with  thee.  They  went  forth, 
and  entered  mto  a  ship  immediately;  and  that  night 
they  caught  nothing. 

4  But  wheu  the  morning  was  now  come,  Jesus  stood 


j  ch.  1  :45...  .k  Matt.  4  :  31. 


chapter  a  manifest  leaning  to  the  belief  that  it  was 
written  by  John  himself.  Of  this  1  am  fully  con- 
vi7iced.  In  every  part  of  it  his  hand  is  plain  and 
unmistakable ;  in  every  part  of  it  his  character 
and  spirit  is  manifested  in  a  way  which  none  but 
the  most  biassed  can  fail  to  recognize.  I  believe 
it  to  have  been  added  some  years  probably  after 
the  completion  of  the  Gospel;  partly,  perhaps, 
to  record  the  important  miracle  of  the  second 
draught  of  fishes,  so  full  of  spiritual  instruction, 
and  the  interesting  account  of  the  sayings  of  the 
Lord  to  Peter ;  but  principally  to  meet  the  error 
which  was  becoming  prevalent  concerning  him- 
self." To  the  same  effect  Meyer:  "In  accord- 
ance with  all  that  has  been  advanced,  the  view 
is  justified  that  John,  by  way  of  authentic  his- 
torical explanation  of  the  legend  in  ver.  23,  some 
time  after  finishing  his  Gospel,  which  he  had 
closed  with  20  :  ol,  wrote  ch.  21  : 1-34  as  a  com- 


plement of  the  book,  and  that  this  appendix, 
simply  because  its  Johannean  character  was  im- 
mediately certain  and  recognized,  already  at  a 
very  early  period,  whilst  the  Gospel  had  not  yet 
issued  forth  from  the  narrower  circle  of  its  first 
readers,  had  become  an  inseparable  part  of  the 
Gospel."  Similarly,  though  somewhat  more 
doubtfully,  Luthardt  and  Godet.  See  also 
Ezra  Abbot,  in  Smith''s  Bib.  Diet.,  Vol.  3,  p.  1430, 
note  b. 

1-3.  The  departure  of  the  disciples  into  Gali- 
lee is  not  to  be  regarded  as  an  abandonment  on 
their  part  of  hope  ;  for  Christ's  direction  to  his 
disciples  after  his  resurrection  was  to  go  into 
Galilee  and  meet  him  there  (Matt.  28  : 7 ;  Mark  le :  7). 
We  are  rather  to  regard  it,  therefore,  as  an  evi- 
dence that  they  were  convinced  by  his  repeated 
appearances  of  the  resurrection  of  their  Lord, 
and  went  into  Galilee  in  anticipation  of  meeting 


HE   GIRT   HIS  fisher's   COAT   ONTO  HIM. 


236 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XXI. 


on  the  shore :  but  the  disciples  knew'  not  that  it  was 
Jesus. 

5  Then™  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Children,  have  ye 
any  meat  ?     They  answered  him,  No. 

6  And  he  said  unto  them.  Cast  "  the  net  on  the  right 
side  of  the  ship,  and  ye  shall  find.  They  cast  there- 
fore, and  now  they  were  not  able  to  draw  it  for  the 
multitude  of  fishes. 

7  Therefore  that  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved  saith 
unto  Peter,  It  is  the  Lord.    Now  when  Simon  Peter 


heard  that  it  was  the  Lord,  he  girt  Azj  fisher's  coat  unto 
him,  (for  he  was  naked,)  and  did  cast  himself  into  the 
sea. 

8  And  the  other  disciples  came  in  a  little  ship  ;  (for 
they  were  not  far  from  land,  but  as  it  were  two  hun- 
dred cubits,)  dragging  the  ni;t  with  fishes. 

g  As  soon  then  as  they  were  come  to  land,  they  saw 
a  fare  of  coals  there,  and  fish  laid  thereon,  and  bread. 

lo  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Bring  of  the  fish  which  ye 
have  now  caught. 


.  m  Luke  24  :  41 ....  n  Luke  5  :  4-7. 


him  there.  For  tlie  same  reason  we  are  not  to 
regard  Peter's  declaration,  /  go  a  finhing,  as  an 
indication  that  he  had  abandoned  his  sacred  for 
a  secular  calling.  His  restless  temperament  did 
not  allow  him  to  wait  in  inactivity,  and  he  sought 
relief  in  work.  The  response  of  the  other  disci- 
ples, We  also  go  vnth  thee,  has  been  rightly  used 
by  the  homiletical  commentators  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  influence  of  example.  John  was  one 
of  the  sons  of  Zebedee.  Assuming  that  the  21st 
chapter  is  from  his  pen,  we  have  in  it  the  de- 
scription of  an  eye-witness.  There  is  nothing  to 
indicate  who  were  the  two  unnamed  disciples, 
but  the  fact  that  they  are  unnamed  has  been 
regarded  as  an  indication  that  they  were  not  two 
of  the  twelve.  The  ship  was,  of  course,  simply  a 
fisherman's  boat,  probably  not  very  difEerent  in 
shape  and  size  from  those  to  be  seen  in  the  Sea 
of  GalUee  at  the  present  day,  as  represented  in 
the  accompanying  illustration. 

4,  5.  The  night  of  labor  spent  in  vain  might 
naturally  have    recalled  to  the    disciples    that 


ANCIENT   BREAD. 

other  night  of  toil  after  which  Christ  first  called 
some  of  these  disciples  to  be  his  followers  (Luke 
5 :  i-ii).  In  the  gray  twilight  they  saw  a  stran- 
ger on  the  shore ;  that  they  did  not  recognize 
him  may  have  been  due  in  part  to  the  dimness 
of  the  early  light,  but  more  probably  to  the  fact, 
illustrated  by  other  post-resurrection  appear- 
ances, that  he  was  recognized  only  as  he  chose 
to  reveal  himself  (ch.  20 :  i4 ;  Luke  24 :  16).  Certainly 
it  indicates  that  the  disciples  had  no  such  expec- 
tation of  his  appearance  as  would  lead  thera,  ac- 


cording to  the  theory  of  M.  Renan,  to  conjure 
up  a  spectre.  There  is  nothing  in  the  words^ 
and  we  may  presume  there  was  nothing  in  the 
tones  of  Jesus,  to  quicken  their  perception.  His 
language  is  that  of  a  fisherman :  Boys  {nuidia), 
have  ye  no  fish?  The  word  rendered  meat  {nnoa- 
(pu'/Loi)  is  literally  wJiat  is  eaten  tTierewith,  i.  e.y 
with  bread,  and  here  is  equivalent  to  fish,  which 
in  Galilee  was  a  common  accompaniment  of 
bread  in  the  peasant's  meal. 

6-8.  There  was  nothing  to  the  disciples  espe- 
cially suggestive  in  the  direction  to  cast  the  net 
on  the  right  side  of  the  ship.  They  might  natural- 
ly suppose  that  he  had  perceived  indications  of 
a  school  of  fishes  there.  In  the  effect  produced 
on  the  two  disciples,  Peter  and  John,  by  the 
miraculous  draught  of  fishes  Avhich  followed, 
the  character  of  each  is  strikingly  illustrated. 
John,  with  his  quicker  intuitions,  recalling  that 
other  fishing  scene,  recogiaized  the  Lord  first ; 
Peter,  with  his  greater  boldness  to  act,  leaped 
into  the  water,  and  partly  swam  and  partly 
waded  ashore.  Comp.  ch.  20  :  6,  8, 
notes.  The  distance  was  about  two  . 
hundred  cubits,  that  is,  about  three 
hundred  feet.  The  flsher''s  coat, 
which  Peter  girt  unto  him,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  a  sort  of  loose 
garment,  like  the  workmen's 
blouse  of  to-day,  which  Peter  had 
laid  oil  during  his  night's  work. 
This  he  put  on,  counting  it  un- 
seemly to  appear  without  it  in  the 
presence  of  his  Lord,  at  the  same 
time  drawing  it  up  and  tucking  it 
in  about  the  waist,  that  it  might 
not  impede  his  swimming  to  the 
shore.  The  accompanying  illus- 
tration shows  the  probable  style  of  the  fisher's 
coat,  in  contrast  with  the  long  robe  worn  by  one 
not  engaged  in  manual  labor.  The  net  itself  was 
so  full  of  fishes,  and  they  so  great,  that  the  disci- 
ples abandoned  the  attempt  to  bring  them  into 
the  boat,  but  dragged  them  in  the  net  to  the 
land. 

9-11.  On  coming  to  the  shore  the  disciples 
found  a  fire  of  coals  already  kindled,  and  some 
fish  laid  thereon,  and  some  loaves  of  bread — in 
short,  preparation  for  a  simple  meal.     There  has 


Ch.  XXL] 


JOHN. 


237 


11  Simon  Peter  went  up,  and  drew  the  net  to  land 
full  of  great  fishes,  an  hundred  and  fifty  and  three:  and 
for  all  there  were  so  many,  yet  was  not  the  net  broken. 

12  Jesus  saith  unto  tlieni.  Come  and  dine.  And  none 
of  the  disciples  durst  ask  him,  Who  art  thou  ?  knowing 
that  it  was  the  Lord. 

13  Jesus"  then  cometh,  and  taketh  bread,  and  giveth 
them,  and  fish  likewise. 

14  This  I*  is  now  the  third  time  that  Jesus  shewed 
himself  to  his  disciples,  after  that  he  was  risen  from  the 
dead. 


15  So  when  they  had  dined,  Jesus  saith  to  Simon 
Peter,  Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  lovest  thou  me  morei  than 
these  ?  He  saith  unto  him,  Vea,  Lord  ;  thou  knowest 
that  I  love  thee.     He  saith  unto  him,  Feed"'  my  lambs. 

16  He  saith  to  him  again  the  second  lime,  Simon,  son 
of  Jonas,  lovest  thou  me  ?  He  saith  unto  liim,  Vea, 
Lord;  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee.  He  saith  unto 
him.  Feed  my  sheep." 

17  He  saith  unto  him  the  third  time,  Simon,  son  of 
Jonas,  lovest  thou  me?  Peter  was  grieved '  because 
he  said  unto  him  the  third  time,  Lovest  thou  me  ?   And 


0  Acts  10:41....p  cb.  iO  :  19,  26.... q  Matt.  26  :  33,  35.... r  Isa.  40  :  11  ;   Jer.  3  1  15;   Ezek.  34:  2-10; 

s  Heb.  13  :  20  ;   1  Pet.  2  :  25. . .  .t  Lam.  3  :  33. 


I  Pel.  6:  2,4.. 


been  some  unprofitable  discussion  among  the 
commentators  respecting  the  manner  in  which 
this  provision  liad  been  made.  It  is  attributed 
by  different  commentators  to  the  ministry  of 
angels,  to  the  activity  of  Peter,  to  the  forethought 
of  Jesus.  Alford,  following  Stier  and  the  older 
commentators,  insists  that  it  was  miraculously 
provided.  Trench  rightly  and  briefly  disposes 
of  this  question  :  "  By  what  ministry,  natural  or 
miraculous,  has  been  often  inquired,  but  we 
must  leave  tliis  undetermined,  as  we  find  it." 
The  provision  apparentlj-  was  not  suflScient  for 
the  company,  for  Clirist  bade  Peter  add  to  the 
stock  from  the  fish  just  caught.  Peter  went, 
therefore,  to  aid  the  others  in  bringing  the  net 
to  shore.  The  fish  were  counted,  and  the  exact 
number  is  recorded  by  the  Evangelist.  The  at- 
tempt to  draw  some  spiritual  lessons  from  this 
number  affords  a  curious  illustration  of  the  ab- 
surdities into  which  the  allegorizing  method  is 
liable  to  carry  the  student.  The  exact  enumera- 
tion is  important  only  because  it  is  an  indication 
of  accuracy  in  the  historian  ;  in  such  an  enumera- 
tion there  is  no  opportunity  for  the  exaggeration 
of  imagination.  To  me  Augustine's  allegorical 
interpretation  of  the  contrast  between  this  and 
the  analogous  yet  widely  different  miracle  re- 
corded in  Luke  5  :  1-11  is  scarcely  more  profita- 
ble than  the  spiritualizing  interpretation  of  the 
meaning  of  the  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  ;  the 
curious  in  such  matters  will  find  it  fully  reported 
in  Trench  on  the  Parables.  It  might  be  possible 
to  account  for  each  single  feature  in  this  narra- 
tive without  assuming  a  miracle  ;  but  in  a  candid 
consideration  of  all  the  features  combined — the 
fruitless  fishing  all  night,  the  sudden  and  extra- 
ordinary success  in  the  morning,  the  number  of 
fish,  their  size,  the  unbroken  net,  though  dragged 
full  of  fish  to  the  shore — it  is  impossible  to  doubt 
that  we  have  here,  what  evangelical  critics  have 
always  seen  in  the  narrative,  the  account  of  a 
miraculous  manifestation  of  the  Lord's  power. 

12-14.  There  is  a  verbal,  but  no  real  incon- 
sistency in  the  statement  that  ?/o??e  oftlic  disciples 
durst  asTc  Mm,  Who  art  thou?  knowing  that  it  tvas 
tJie  Lord.  "But  seeing  that  His  form  was  al- 
tered, and  full  of  much  awfulness,  they  were 
greatly  amazed,   and  desired  to  ask  somewhat 


concerning  It;  but  fear,  and  their  knowledge 
that  He  was  not  some  other,  but  the  same, 
checked  their  inquiry. " — ( Chnjsostoin. )  The  care- 
ful student  will  observe  that  the  Evangelist 
does  not  characterize  this  as  the  third  appear- 
ance of  Jesus,  but  as  the  third  appearance  to  his 
disciples,  i.  e.,  the  apostles.  This  excludes  the 
appearance  to  Mary  (ch.  20 :  le),  and  to  the  two 
disciples  on  the  walk  to  Emmaus  (Luke  24 :  13-35)  'y 
the  two  preceding  appearances  referred  to  were 
that  to  the  ten  on  the  evening  of  the  day  of  the 
resurrection  (ch.  20  :  19)  and  that  to  the  eleven  in 
the  week  following  (ch.  20  :  26).  Without  follow- 
ing the  allegorizing  commentators  into  any  of 
their  extravagances,  we  may  reasonably  see,  with 
Alford,  Trench,  and  others,  a  spiritual  signifi- 
cance in  the  fact  that  Christ  provided  a  meal  for 
the  apostles  at  the  same  time  when,  by  this  new 
miraculous  draught,  he  reminded  them  of  their 
first  call  to  become  fishers  of  men,  thus  suggest- 
ing to  them  the  spiritual  truth  involved  in  the 
Lord's  Supper,  and  symbolically  represented  in 
the  feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  that  they  who 
minister  in  the  things  of  Christ  are  themselves 
dependent  on  Christ  for  their  spiritual  support ; 
perhaps  also  suggesting  that  when  the  labor  of 
life  is  over  there  will  be  for  them  that  have 
wrought  for  Christ  a  feast  with  him  in  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.  But  certainly  Trench  goes  too 
far  in  saying  that  "  the  character  of  the  meal  was 
sacramental,  and  it  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
stilling  of  their  present  hunger."  It  is  much 
more  reasonable  to  see  in  this  provision  for  the 
disciples'  commonest  needs — food  and  a  fire  at 
the  end  of  a  night  of  sleepless  toil — a  new  illus- 
tration of  the  tenderness  of  Christ's  considera- 
tion for  his  own. 

15-17.  So  Avhen  they  had  dined,  Jesus 
saith  to  Simon  Peter,  Simon,  son  of  Jo- 
nas, lovest  thou  me  more  than  these  ? 
He  saith  unto  him.  Yea,  Lord,  thou 
knowest  that  I  have  affection  for  thee. 
He  saith  unto  him,  F«ed  my  lambs.  He 
saith  to  him  as^ain  the  second  time,  Si- 
mon, son  of  Jonas,  lovest  thou  me?  He 
saith  unto  him.  Yea,  Lord,  thou  knowest 
that  I  have  affection  for  thee.  He  saith 
unto  him.  Shepherd  my  sheep.     He  saith 


•238 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XXI. 


he  said  unto  him,  Lord,  thou"knowest  all  things;  thou 
knovvest  that  I  love  thee.  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  Feed 
my  sheep. 

u  ch.  16  :  30  . . . 


i8  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,"  When  thou  wast 
young,  thou  girdedst  thyself,  and  walkedst  whither 
thou  wouldest :  but  when  thou  shalt  be  old,  thou  siialt 


ch.  13  :  36  ;  Acts  12  ;  3,  4. 


unto  him  the  third  time,  Simon,  son  of 
Jonas,  hast  thou  affection  for  me  ?  Peter 
was  grieved  because  he  said  unto  him  the 
third  time.  Hast  thou  affection  for  me  ? 
and  he  said  unto  him.  Lord,  thou  know- 
est  all  things ;  thou  knowest  that  I  have 
affection  for  thee.  Jesus  saith  unto  him. 
Feed  my  little  sheep.  This  translation  will 
suggest  to  the  English  reader,  though  inade- 
quately, points  of  difference  in  the  original  which 
our  English  translation  wholly  fails  to  preserve, 
possibly  through  the  inattention  of  the  trans- 
lators, but  more  probably  through  the  made- 
quaey  of  the  English  language  to  represent  deli- 
cate shades  of  meaning  which  are  represented 
by  the  Greek.  (1)  Two  different  Greek  words 
are  rendered  indiscriminately  love  (fikiu)  and 
aya/Tfioj).  I  have  attempted  to  indicate  the  dif- 
ference by  rendering  the  one  to  love  and  the 
other  to  have  affection,  though  this  rather  sug- 
gests that  there  is  a  difference  than  indicates  in 
■what  it  consists.  The  word  which  Christ  uses  in 
his  question,  Lovest  thou  me?  (ayuTrciw),  signifies, 
if  not  the  higher,  at  least  the  more  thoughtful 
and  reverential  affection,  founded  on  an  intelli- 
gent estimate  of  character,  and  accompanied  by 
a  deliberate  and  well-considered  choice.  Peter's 
J  love  thee  represents  rather  the  personal  instinc- 
tive love,  the  activity  of  feeling  rather  than  of 
wOl,  the  affection  which,  being  spontaneous  and 
instinctive,  gives  no  account  of  itself,  and  no 
reason  for  its  existence.  "We  are  bid  in  the  N.  T. 
to  exercise  the  first  form  of  love  (dyanuw)  tow- 
ards God,  but  never  the  second ;  while  the  Fa- 
ther is  said  to  exercise  both  forms  towards  his 
own  Son.  Two  different  Greek  words  are  also 
rendered  indiscriminately  feed.  To  indicate  the 
difference  I  have  rendered  one  by  the  rare  but 
indispensable  verb  shepherd.  Finally,  three 
words  are  used  to  represent  the  flock  which 
Christ  commends  to  Peter's  care — lambs  («fii/«), 
sheep  {no();iurd),  and  little  sheep  {n^oriund).  There 
is  some  uncertainty  as  to  the  reading,  but  the 
one  I  have  followed  is  accepted  by  the  best 
critics — Alford,  Meyer,  etc.  To  feed  the  sheep 
is  simply  to  nourish  them ;  to  shepherd  them  is 
not  in  contrast  the  ruling  activity  (so  31eyer),  but 
the  whole  shepherd  care  of  the  flock — watching, 
tending,  leading — as  illustrated  in  Psalm  23  and 
in  John  10  : 1-18.  The  term  lamb  is  never  used  in 
the  N.  T.  except  of  Christ  himself  (John  i :  29 ;  1  Pet. 
1:19;  Rev.  5 : 6, 8, 12,  etc.),  or  of  the  foUowcrs  of  Christ 
(Luke  10  :  s).  By  the  Iambi  here,  then,  I  under- 
stand Christ  to  mean  his  professed  followers; 


Peter  was  to  show  his  love  for  the  Master  by 
teaching  them.  The  term  sheep  is  more  general, 
and  includes  in  the  figurative  language  of  the 
Bible  those  who  have  wandered  away  from  the 

fold  of  God  (Matt.  9  :  36  ;    12  :  11,  12 ;    15  :  24  ;   Luke  15  :  4-6). 

Peter  is  to  show  his  love  for  the  Master,  not  only 
by  teaching  the  Lord's  disciples,  but  by  shep- 
herding the  sheep,  whether  in  the  fold  or  wan- 
dering from  it,  as  a  good  shepherd  going  before 
them,  going  after  them,  giving  his  life,  if  need 
be,  for  them  (john  lo :  i-is).  The  little  sJieep  are 
the  young,  who  have  not  yet  wandered  away, 
and  whom  he  is  to  keep  in  the  Master's  fold  by 
feeding  them  there  with  the  herbage  of  life. 
Christ  calls  them  my  lambs,  7ny  sheep,  because 
the  Father  has  given  all  to  him,  and  he  is,  as 
Redeemer  and  Saviour,  Lord  of  all.  The  most 
superficial  student  will  not  fail  to  see  in  this 
thrice-repeated  question  an  indirect  and  implied 
reference  to  and  recall  of  the  thrice-repeated 
denial  of  his  Lord  by  Peter.  In  his  request  for 
permission  to  walk  on  the  water,  in  his  protest 
against  the  feet-washing,  in  his  assertion 
"  Though  aU  men  shall  be  offended  because  of 
thee,  yet  will  I  never  be  offended"  (Matt.  14  :  28; 
26 :  33 ;  John  13 : 8),  there  are  indications  of  an  over- 
weening self-confidence  in  his  love  for  the  Lord  as 
greater  than  that  of  the  other  disciples.  It  was 
this  self-confidence  in  the  strength  of  his  love 
which  had  proved  his  danger.  Christ  addresses 
him,  not  by  his  new  name  of  Peter,  but  by  the 
old  name  which  he  bore  before  he  knew  the  Lord, 
and  asks  him.  Hast  thou  for  me  a  greater  love 
than  these  ?  Peter,  saying  nothing  of  the  love  of 
the  others,  not  even  venturing  to  claim  for  him- 
self the  intelligent  and  deliberate  love  which 
rules  the  life  and  molds  the  character,  answers 
in  humility :  Thou  knowest  my  affection  for 
thee.  Show  it  then,  says  Jesus,  not  by  assuming 
pre-eminence  over  my  flock,  but  by  becoming 
their  shepherd  (=  servant,  ch.  13  :  13-17).  He  then 
repeats  the  question,  Lovest  thou  me?  Peter 
answers  as  before:  Thou  knowest  my  affection 
for  thee.  Show  it  then,  says  Christ,  by  shep- 
herding my  sheep ;  by  seeking  the  lost,  restoring 
the  wanderer.  A  third  time  he  asks  the  ques- 
tion, now  changing  it  and  adoptmg  Peter's  own 
language :  Art  thou  sure  of  thine  affection  for 
me  ?  Peter  is  grieved,  at  the  change  in  the  ques- 
tion as  well  as  at  its  repetition,  "because  he  said 
unto  him  the  third  time.  Hast  thou  affection  for 
meV  and  appeals  to  him  as  the  Searcher  of 
hearts  to  witness  for  himself  the  depth  and  real- 
ity of  his  affection.     And  Christ  finally  bids  him 


Ch.  XXI.] 


JOHN. 


239 


thee, 


stretch  forth  thy  hands,  and  another  shall  gird 
and  carry  thee  whither  thou  vvouklest  not. 

19  This  spake  he,  sifjnitying  by  what  death "  he 
should  glority  God.  And  when  he  nad  spoken  this,  he 
saith  unto  him.  Follow  1  me. 

20  Then  Peter,  turning  about,  seeth  the  disciple 
whom  Jesus  loved,  tbllowing  ;  which  also  leaned  on 
his  breast  at  supper,  and  said.  Lord,  which  is  he  that 
betrayeth  thee  ? 


21  Peter,  seeing  him,  saith  to  Jesus,  Lord,  and  what 
shall  this  man  do .-' 

22  Jesus  saith  unto  him.  If  I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I 
come,'  what  is  tliat  to  thee  ?     Follow  "  thou  me. 

23  Then  went  this  saying  abroad  among  the  breth- 
ren, that  that  disciple  should  not  die:  yet  Jesus  said 
not  unto  him.  He  shall  not  die  ;  but.  If  I  will  that  he 
tarry  till  I  come,  what  is  that  to  thee  ? 


w  Acts  21  :n....x  2Pet.l  :  14. 


..y  ch.  12  :  26;  Numb.  14  :  24  ;    1  Sam.  12  :  20  ;   Matt.  19  : 
a  verHe  19. 


.z  Matt.  25  :  31 ;   Rev.  1:7;  22  :  20. . . 


show  his  love,  by  feeding  the  little  sheep — the 
young,  the  feeble,  those  most  needing  care. 
Meyer  well  notes  the  fact  that  Christ  does  not 
question  Peter's  faii\  but  the  love  which  pro- 
ceeds from  faith  and  shows  itself  by  its  work ; 
and  Godet  notes  the  curious  resemblance  be- 
tween the  present  situation  and  that  of  two 
•scenes  in  the  previous  life  of  Peter  with  which  it 
is  related.  He  had  been  called  to  the  ministry 
■by  Jesus  after  a  miraculous  draught  of  fishes ; 
it  is  after  a  similar  draught  that  the  ministry  is 
restored  to  him.  He  had  lost  his  office  by  his 
denial  beside  a  fire  of  coals ;  it  is  beside  a  fire  of 
coals  that  he  recovers  it.— ((?ode<.)  The  ecclesi- 
astical commentators  see  in  this  scene  a  rein- 
statement of  Peter  in  his  apostolic  office,  to  which 
Alford  well  replies  that  "  there  is  no  record  of 
his  ever  having  lost  it."  The  R.  C.  divines  find 
in  it  a  proof-text  for  their  belief  in  the  primacy 
■of  Peter;  to  which  Peter  himself  furnishes  a 
■quite  adequate  reply  in  1  Pet.  5  : 1-3.  The  shep- 
herd is  not  a  lord  over  God's  heritage,  but  one 
who  follows  the  Chief  Shepherd,  goes  before  the 
flock,  is  their  example  and  their  leader,  by  his 
own  life  showing  them  the  way  to  live,  and,  if 
need  be,  by  his  own  death  for  their  sakes  show- 
ing them  how  to  die.  It  must  strike  one,  too, 
as  curious  that  Peter  should  be  grieved  at  words 
which  constitute  him  the  head  of  the  church 
and  the  vicar  of  God  upon  earth.  The  true  les- 
son of  this  scene  is  for  all  the  disciples  of  Christ. 
We  are  all,  through  Peter's  experience,  admon- 
ished to  show  our  love  for  our  Master,  not  by 
asking  permission  to  do  great  things  (as  to  walk 
on  the  waves),  not  by  refusing  to  accept  his 
humiliation  for  us  (as  by  refusing  to  allow  the 
feet-washing),  nor  yet  by  professing  what  we 
will  do  in  the  hour  of  difficulty  and  danger  (as 
by  the  assurance,  "I  will  not  deny  thee"),  nor 
•even  by  entering  into  fierce  battle  against  his 
foes  (as  by  drawing  the  sword  on  Malchus),  but 
by  laying  dow^n  the  life  in  quiet,  humble,  self- 
denying  service  for  the  Master's  sheep — the  fol- 
lowers of  Christ,  the  wanderers  from  the  fold, 
.and  the  weakest  and  feeblest  in  the  fold. 

18,19.  In  this  language,  lohtn  thou  wast  young 
thou  girdecM  tMjself,  there  is  perhaps  a  reference 
to  Peter's  act  in  girding  himself  and  casting  him- 
:self  into  the  sea  (ver.  7).     The  iirophecy  foretells 


the  manner  of  his  death,  which,  according  to  an 
early  and  apparently  trustworthy  tradition,  was 
by  crucilixion  at  about  the  same  time  with  Paul, 
in  the  persecutions  under  Nero.  According  to 
Origen,  Peter  was  crucified  with  hts  head  down- 
wards, either  by  his  own  request,  because  in  his 
humility  he  was  unwilling  to  suffer  the  same 
death  as  his  Lord,  or  by  order  of  Nero,  as  matter 
of  wanton  and  ingenious  cruelty.  The  contrast 
between  Peter's  experience  in  his  youth  and  in 
his  old  age  is  one  common  in  Christian  experi- 
ence, a  contrast  between  doing  and  sufferuig,  be- 
tween active,  energetic  service  of  the  Lord  and 
the  patient  endurance  of  his  cross.  Both  are 
involved  in  following  Christ.  To  interpret  this 
command,  Follow  me,  literally,  as  Godet :  "Jesus 
began  to  move  off,  and  commanded  Peter  to  fol- 
low him  in  the  literal  sense,  and  John  followed 
them  without  any  express  invitation,"  seems  to 
me  a  shallow  interpretation,  which  is  not  helped 
by  supposing  it  to  be  a  symbolical  act,  a  sort  of 
childish  object-teaching.  Peter  had  gone  back  to 
his  fishing;  in  saying  Follow  me,  Christ  calls  him 
again  to  become  a  fisher  of  men,  by  the  same 
phrase  which  he  had  employed  three  years  before 
on  the  shore  of  the  same  sea  and  after  a  similar 
miracle. 

20,  21.  It  is  not  necessary,  and  it  is  hardly 
reasonable,  to  impute  Peter's  question  to  a  feel- 
ing of  jealousy ;  it  is  rather  to  be  attributed  to 
the  natural  and  almost  universal  tendency  to 
inquire  into  the  duty  and  destiny  of  others.  The 
Lord's  reply  indicates  what  is  the  answer  which  he 
would  make  to  us  whenever  we,  following  Peter's 
doubtful  example,  pry  curiously  mto  his  pur- 
poses respecting  others. 

22,  23.  It  is  curious  to  see  how  Christ's  lan- 
guage here,  notwithstanding  John's  interpreta- 
tion, has  been  misconstrued,  even  down  to  the 
latest  time,  as  a  promise,  or  a  quasi-promise, 
that  John  should  tarry  until  the  second  coming 
of  Christ.  Ancient  legends  report  that  after  his 
interment  there  were  strange  movements  in  the 
earth  that  covered  him,  that  when  the  tomb  was 
subsequently  opened  it  was  found  empty,  that 
he  was  reserved  to  reappear  again  in  conflict  with 
Anti-Christ ;  so  late  as  the  sixteenth  century  an 
enthusiast  was  burned  at  Toulouse  who  gave 
himself  out  as  St.  John;  and  even  so  sober  a 


240 


JOHN. 


[Ch.  XXL 


24  This  is  the  disciple  which  testifieth  of  these  things, 
and  wrote  these  things:  and''  we  know  that  his  testi- 
mony is  true. 

25  And^  there  are  also  many  other  things  which 


Jesus  did,  the  which,  if  they  should  be  written  every 
one,  I  suppose  that  even  the  world  itself  could  not  con- 
tain the ''  books  that  should  be  written.    Amen. 


b  ch.  19  :  35  ;  3  John  12  . 


ch,  20  :  30 ....  d  Amos  ' 


commentator  as  Godet  submits,  though  hesitat- 
ingly, the  hypothesis  that,  as  the  primitive  epoch 
of  humanity  had  its  Enoch,  and  the  theocratic 
epoch  its  Elijah,  neither  of  whom  knew  death, 
so  also  the  Christian  epoch  may  have  had  its 
deathless  representative.  Two  other  interpreta- 
tions are  :  (1)  That  Christ  refers  here  to  his 
coming  to  his  own  in  their  death,  and  that  by 
the  phrase  Tf  I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I  come  he 
means.  If  I  will  that  he  meet  a  natural  death 
instead  of  martyrdom.  This  interpretation  Al- 
ford  justly  characterizes  as  frigid  and  inapplica- 
ble here,  since  martyrdom  is  as  truly  a  coming 
of  the  Lord  as  natural  death.  (3)  That  by  his 
Second  Coming,  Christ  refers  to  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem,  an  interpretation  strangely  adopted 
by  Alford.  That  destruction  was  an  historical 
prophecy,  but  in  no  wise  an  historical  fulfillment 
of  the  promise  of  the  Lord's  Second  Coming. 
There  is  no  reason  for  regarding  this  language  of 
Christ  as  anything  else  than  purely  hypothetical, 
equivalent  to.  Suppose  that  I  were  to  will  that  he 
should  remain  xqwn  the  earth  unto  the  end;  what 
would  that  he  to  thee  ? 

24,  25.  There  is  uncertainty  respecting  the 
authorship  and  authenticity  of  these  verses.  For 
discussion  of  this  question,  see  Smith'' s  Bib.  Bid., 
p.  1430,  note  b ;  GodeVs  Commentary,  Vol.  Ill, 
pp.  363,  363.  The  verses  are  found  in  all  the 
manuscripts,  except  that  Tischcudorf  believes 
that  ver.  2.5  was  originally  wanting  in  the  Sinaitic 
MS. ;  he  thinks  that  the  color  of  the  ink  and  a 
slight  difference  in  the  handwriting  show  that  it 
did  not  proceed  from  the  original  scribe,  but  was 
added  by  a  contemporary  reviser.  But  though 
thLre  is  no  external  evidence  for  setting  either 
verse  aside,  the  internal  evidence  seems  to  me  de- 
cisive against  verse  35.  "  This  inharmonious  and 
unspiritual  exaggeration"  (Meyer)  is  entirely  in- 


consistent with  John's  scrupulously  simple  and 
truthful  narrative.  The  authorship  of  ver.  34  is 
more  uncertain.  Whether  written  by  John,  or 
added  almost  immediately  after  by  some  com- 
panion, it  affords  a  very  strong  attestation  of  the 
apostolic  authorship  of  the  Fourth  Gospel.  On  a 
careful  examination  of  the  different  authorities,  it 
seems  to  me  that  Godet' s  conclusion,  though  hy- 
pothetical, is  in  accordance  with  probabilities, 
and  his  deduction  respecting  the  authenticity  of 
the  Gospel  as  a  whole  is  irresistible  :  "  1st.  That 
the  narrative  (verses  1-23)  is  from  the  hand  of  the 
Evangelist.  3d.  That  ver.  34  is  a  declaration  ema- 
nating from  the  friends  of  John,  who  had  called 
forth  the  composition  of  his  Gospel,  and  to 
whom  he  had  committed  it  after  its  completion. 
3d.  That  ver.  2.5  is  written  by  one  of  them,  with 
whom  the  work  was  deposited,  and  who  thought 
himself  bound  to  close  it  thus,  to  the  gloiy,  not 
of  the  author,  but  of  the  subject  of  history.  By 
these  last  words  the  entire  work  becomes  a 
whole.  Accordingly  we  are  shut  up  to  hold 
either  that  John  is  the  author  of  our  Gospel,  or 
that  the  author  is  a  forger,  who,  1st,  palmed 
himself  off  on  the  world  with  all  the  character- 
istics of  the  apostle  ;  who,  2d,  carried  his  shame- 
fulness  so  far  that  he  got  made  out  for  him,  by 
an  accomplice  of  his  fraud,  a  certificate  of  iden- 
tity with  the  person  of  John ;  or  who,  more 
simply  still,  to  save  himself  the  trouble  of  find- 
ing a  companion  in  falsehood,  made  out  this 
certificate  for  himself  in  the  name  of  another,  or 
of  several  others.  And  he  who  had  recourse  to 
such  ways  was  the  author  of  a  writing  in  which 
lying  is  blasted  as  the  work  of  the  devU  (ch.  8 :  44), 
and  truth  glorified  as  one  of  the  two  essential 
features  of  the  divine  character !  If  any  one 
will  believe  such  a  story,  *  *  *  let  him  be- 
lieve it"  (1  Cor.  14  :  38). 


241 


Two  years  have  elapsed  since  the  publication 
of  the  preceding  volume  in  this  series  of 
Commentaries  on  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. A  considerable  i)art  of  the  Commentary 
on  John  was  tlieu  already  written  ;  all  tliat  part 
of  it  which  was  common  to  the  Four  Gospels  was 
substantially  ready  for  the  printer ;  little  else 
remained  to  be  written  except  that  portion  which 
dealt  with  the  larger  discourses  of  our  Lord,  and 
not  all  of  that ;  and  a  life-long  study  of  the  Four 
Gospels,  part  of  the  results  of  which  had  been 
given  to  the  public  in  a  Life  of  Christ,  and  others 
of  which  were  in  manuscript  notes,  had  made  me 
measurably  familiar  with  the  ground  that  lay 
before  me.  But  the  discourses  of  Jesus,  as  re- 
corded by  John,  can  be  studied  only  meditatively. 
A  certain  quiet  restfidness  of  mind  is  essential  to 
any  spiritual  apprehension  of  their  meaning. 
And  I  have  believed  that  those  to  whom'  this 
volume  had  been  earlier  promised,  and  whose 
impatience  at  the  delay  has  reached  me  in  letters 
that  have  always  been  kindly  and  courteous  and 
full  of  encouragement,  would  easier  pardon  delay 
than  despoiling  haste  in  preparation.  I  can  ask 
no  leniency  of  any  critic  on  the  ground  that  time 
was  wanting  to  do  adequately  the  needful  work. 
I  have  stated  in  the  introduction  the  reasons 
which  have  led  me,  after  a  careful,  and  I  believe 
a  measurably  impartial,  study  of  the  question,  to 
believe  that  the  Fourth  Gospel  is  the  work  of  the 
apostle  John,  and  that  he  is  the  one  designated 
in  that  Gospel  as  "  the  disciple  whom  Jesus 
loved."  I  wish  to  add  here,  emphatically,  that 
the  meditative  study  of  the  discourses  which 
John  has  reported  has  strengthened  that  convic- 
tion. Either  we  have  here  the  truths  which 
Christ  taught,  reported  by  one  who  lived  after 
the  spiritual  and  catholic  character  of  Christian- 
ity had  begun  to  show  itself  by  its  actual  devel- 
opment, and  who  therefore  comprehended  his 
profounder  instructions  as  they  were  not  com- 
prehended during  his  lifetime  ;  or  else  we  must 
believe  that  the  centuries  immediately  succeed- 
ing the  first  of  the  Christian  era  produced  a 
spiritual  genius  whose  insight  into  the  profound- 
est  truths  of  human  experience,  when  inflamed 
into  more  than  merely  human  life  by  the  inbreath- 
ing of  God,  makes  him  the  equal  if  not  the  supe- 
rior of  the  Jesus  portrayed  in  the  three  synoptic 
Gospels,  and  yet  one  who  has  been  utterly 
unknown  to  fame,  and  who  has  left  no  other 
monument  to  his  memory  than  a  document  that 
is  a  fraud  if  not  a  forgery.  The  skepticism  that 
asserts  this  lays  too  heavy  a  tax  on  human  cre- 
dulity. It  asks  us  to  believe  not  only  in  a  Socra- 
tes who  had  no  Plato  to  reveal  his  teachings  and 
his  influence,  but  in  one  who  did  not  hesitate  to 


employ  a  petty  and  useless  fraud  as  a  setting  for 
the  most  transcendent  spiritual  truth. 

This  truth  may  bo.  expressed  in  two  words  as 
that  of  the  Divine  Immanence.  Around  this  the 
whole  Gospel  of  John  centres  ;  to  illu.strate  this 
the  whole  Gospel  was  written.  That  there  is  in 
man  the  possibility  of  a  more  than  merely  earthly 
life  ;  that  in  him  has  been  planted  the  germ  of  a 
divine  life ;  that  this  life,  when  divinely  devel- 
oped, brings  with  it  a  new  light  and  power ;  that 
God  is  in  the  soul  and  the  soul  may  live  in  per- 
petual consciousness  of  its  God ;  that  Christ  is 
not  merely  a  Memory  and  a  Hope,  but  a  Pres- 
ence ;  that  the  Supernatural  is  not  a  past  phe- 
nomenon, but  a  present  and  a  perpetual  expe- 
rience ;  that  miracles — that  is,  signs  of  the  divine. 
All-mighty  love — are  forever  going  on  in  human 
experience,  on  a  transcendently  grander  scale  in 
the  nineteenth  century  than  they  did  in  the  first ; 
that  the  evidence  of  Christianity  is  not  to  be 
sought  in  dingy  and  doubtful  records  of  past 
events,  but  in  the  personal  observation  and  wit- 
ness of  present  occurrences ;  that  revelation  was 
not  completed  with  the  Apocalypse,  but  every 
devout  soul  has  the  promise  of  an  inner  light, 
and  the  invisible  and  Catholic  brotherhood  and 
household  of  faith,  which  is  the  true  church  of 
Christ,  has  in  it  an  everlasting  Shechinah,  which 
reveals  with  perpetually  increasing  clearness  the 
truth  of  God  both  to  it  and  through  it ;  and  that 
fidelity  to  the  sacred  and  sweet  duties  of  love  is 
at  once  the  condition  and  the  result  of  this  living 
experience  of  an  ever-livmg  God,  in  the  spiritual 
realm  as  in  nature,  every  fruit  being  the  seed 
vessel  of  new  growths  for  the  future : — this  I 
believe  to  be  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
according  to  John.  And  I  believe  there  is  no 
better  protection  against  that  skepticism  of  the 
present  age,  whose  vice  is  not  that  it  demands  a 
reason  for  every  faith,  but  that  it  denies  the  wit- 
ness of  the  spiritual  sight  to  spiritual  things,  than 
the  patient,  meditative  study  of  this  Gospel,  ex- 
cept the  patient,  persistent  pursuit  of  the  life  to 
which  it  invites.  To  those  that  have  no  faith  in 
such  a  life  and  such  a  light,  to  whom  Christ  is  only 
a  mist-covered  mountain  seen  across  the  interven- 
ing eighteen  centuries,  and  God  only  an  hypothe- 
sis made  probable  by  the  Paleyrian  argument  from 
design,  this  Commentary  will  probably  give  no 
aid,  and  this  Gospel  will  even  appear  to  be  unm- 
terpretable  in  its  mysticism.  To  those  that  have 
this  faith  in  a  perpetually  present  Immanuel,  a 
Christ  who  is  ever  a  God  with  us,  however  dim  the 
faith  may  be,  these  pages  are  commended  in  the 
prayer  and  hope  that  they  may  help  to  make 
the  Gospel  clearer,  the  faith  stronger,  and  the 
Christ, nearer  and  dearer. 


INDEX 


Note.— The  abbreviations  M.,  Mk.,  L.,  and  J.  refer  respectively  to  the  four  gospels,  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke, 
and  John  ;  the  figures  refer  to  the  pages. 


A. 

Adultery,  Laws  against,  M.,  55. 
Anise,  M.,  250. 
Almsgiving,  M.,  98. 
Andrew,  M.,  148. 
Angels  : 

Bible  doctrine  of,  M.,  215,  323  ; 
L.,  7. 

Message  to  the  Shepherds   of, 
L.,  19,  20,  21. 
Anointing  at  Bethany,  Mk.,  58. 
Annunciation,  The,  L.,  11, 12. 
Antonia,  tower  of,  J,,  216. 
Apostles : 

Call  of  the,  Mk.,  14. 

Commission  of  the,  Mk.,  27. 

Office  of  the,  Mk.,  14. 


B. 

Baptism : 

Ceremony  of,  M.,  72. 
Doctrine  of,  M.,  327,  328  ;  J., 47. 
Barabbas,  M.,  310. 
Bartholomew,  M,,  149. 
Baskets,  M.,  198  ;  J,,  80. 
Beatitudes,The,  M.,  85-87;  L.,  41, 42. 
Bed,  Old  Jewish,  Mk.,  10. 
Beelzebub,  M.,  166. 
Bethabara,  J.,  23. 
Bethany,  M.,  51,  280;  L.,  122;  J., 

136, 151. 
Bethesda,  Pool  of,  J.,  64. 
Bethlehem,  M.,  52,  58. 
Bethphage,  M.,  53  ;  L.,  122. 
Bethsaida,  M.,  51,  157  ;  Mk.,  30. 
Betrayal,  Prophecy  of  the,  J.,  167. 
Blindness,  M.,  131. 
Book,  Old  Jewish,  L.,  32. 
Book-making,  Ancient,  M.,  25. 
Bread,  Eastern,  Mk.,  .36  ;  J.,  236. 
Broker,  Eastern,  L.,  121. 
Burial  customs,  J.,  227. 

C. 

Csesar,  Concerning  tribute  of,  M., 

241,  242. 
CiBsarea  Philippi,  M.,  51, 199. 
Caiaphas,  M.,  280. 
Camel's-hair.  M.,66. 
Cana,  M.,  51  ;  J.,  29. 
Candle-stick,  An  Eastern,  Mk.,  16. 
Canon,  M.,  17-25. 

Capernaimi,  M.,  51, 80  ;  L., 63  ;  ,7.,M- 
Care,  Christ's  teaching  concerning, 

M.,  108. 


Centurion,  M.,  117. 

Children,  Christ's  blessing  of,  M., 

46,  225  ;  L.,  115. 
ChorazLn,  M.,  51, 157. 
Christ : 

Activity  of,  Mk.,  6. 

Agony  in  Gethsemane,  M.,  290- 

295;  L.,  135. 
Anointed   by   Mary,  M.,   280 ; 

J.,  150. 
Anointed  by  the  penitent  wo- 
man, L.,  48,  49. 
Atonement  by,  J.,  24. 
Authority  questioned,  M.,  53. 
Baptism  of,  M.,  71-74  ;  L.,  31. 
Betrayal  of,  M.,  59,  295-297  ;  L., 

136  ;  J.,  211-213. 
Birth  of,  M.,  55,  56,  64  ;  L.,  7  ; 

J.,  114. 
Bloody  sweat  of,  L.,  135. 
Burial  of,  M.,  171,  321  :  Mk.,61 ; 

J.,  221-226. 
Childhood  of,  L.,  21-25. 
Church  of,  J.,  185-190. 
Consecration  of,  L.,  22,  23. 
Conversation  of,  J.,  58. 
Crucifixion  of,  M.,  279-281,  312- 

320;  Mk.,60:  L.,  139-144. 
Death,  Cause  of,  J.,  225-6. 
Denial  by  Peter,  M.,  301-3(H; 

Mk.,  59  ;  L.,  136. 
Discourses  of,  J.,  11. 
Discourse    on  the  end  of   the 

world,  L.,  126-1.30. 
Divine  nature  of,  M.,  13,  226, 

327;  J.,  19,  .39,  44,  68,  90,  111, 

117,  134,  183,  184. 
Education  of,  M.,  65. 
Enemies  of,  L.,  131. 
Fame  of,  L.,  117. 
First  attack  on,  M.,  234. 
Galilean   ministry  of,  Mk.,  5  : 

M.,  79-83. 
Genealogy  of,  M.,  53  ;  L.,  31. 
Glory  of,  J.,  203-4,  209-10. 
Growth  of,  L.,  25. 
Herod's  interview  with,  L.,  138. 
Home  of,  L.,  59,  130. 
Human  nature  of,  M.,  118,  317  ; 

L.,18,  71. 
Incarnation  of,  J.,  22. 
Intercessory  prayer  of,  J.,  201-2, 

210. 
Interpreter  of   God"s   law,  J., 

1S9-90. 
King,  J.,  218-220. 
Life  of.  M.,  40-43. 
Light  of  the  world,  The,  J.,  17, 

109. 


Christ  : 

Limitations  of  his  nature,  Mk., 

56,  57. 
Living  One,  The,  L.,  145. 
Lord  of  Nature,  The,  Mk.,  20. 
Manifestation  of  the  Father,  J., 

174-5,  205. 
Mission  of,  M.,  128, 146, 160, 194, 

216;  Mk.,  35,  49;  L.,  92;   J., 

66,  124. 
Mission  in  Perea,  M.,  222 ;  Mk.. 

46. 
Names  of,  The,  M.,  57. 
Personality  of,  J.,  104. 
Popularity  of,  M.,  14 :  L.,  74, 91. 

131. 
Power  of,  J.,  203,  211-13. 
Prayer  of,  defined,  J.,  17'8. 
Prayer  in  Gethsemane,  M.,  292. 
Passion  of,  Mk.,  47;  L.,  56,  115. 
Resurrection    of,    M.,   323-336, 

330-333;  Mk.,  43,  47,  62;  L., 

115,144-147;  J.,  227-230. 
Rejection  at  Nazareth  of,  M., 

187 ;  Mk.,  26. 
Royal  nature  of,  L.,  122. 
Sacrifice  of.  The,  J.,  129. 
Satire  used  by,  L.,  M. 
Second  coming  of,  M.,  265, 266  ; 

J.,  28,  97,  173-4. 
Sepulchre  of,  M.,  321,  322. 
Servant,  A,  L.,  133. 
Simplicity  of  His  life,  J.,  79, 106. 
Son  of  David,  The,  L.,  117. 
Son  of  God,  The,  M.,  159,  300, 

320. 
Son  of  man.  The,  M.,  142,  143, 

162,  200. 
Spiritual  presence  of  (See  Holy 

Ghost),  J.,  179-181. 
Subject  to  the  Father,  J.,  183-8. 
Supremacy  of,  J,,  128 
Sympathy  of,  M.,  133,  155;  J., 

124,  143. 
Synagogue,  Preaches  in  the,  L., 

31. 
Temple,  Found  in  the,  L.,  34. 
Temptation  of, M.,  74-79  ;  L.,  31. 
Trial  of,  M.,  297-301. 
Trial  by  Caiaphas,  L.,  136  ;  J., 

213-216. 
Trial  before  Pilate,  M.,  309-312; 

L.,  136;  J.,  216-221. 
Tribute  demanded  of,  M.,  211, 

212. 
Triumphal    entry  into  Jerusa- 
lem,  M.,   232,  233;   Mk.,  50; 

L.,122;  J.,  1.54. 
Christian  charity,  L.,  67. 


INDEX. 


243 


Christian  hate,  L.,  89. 
Chri^^tian  life  : 

Conditions  for,  J.,  41,  42. 

Nature  of,  J.,  153. 

Christ's  sermon  on,  J.,  &i-93. 

Source  of,  J.,  59. 

Suffering  of,  J.,  119. 
Christian,  Mission  of,  J.,  189,205,208. 
Christian  ministry,  M.,  138,  339. 
Christian  religion  : 

Evidences  of,  J.,  74,  176-7. 

Nature  of,  J.,  45. 

Not  asceticism,  J.,  208. 

Power  of,  J.,  177. 
Christian  spirit,  M.,  140. 
Christian  work,  M.,  136. 
Christology,  J.,  174. 
Church  : 

Authority  of  the,  M.,  246. 

Christ's  commission  to,  M.,  326- 
.329. 

Dangers  of  the,  M.,  259. 

Foundation  of  the,  M.,  201-203. 

Unity  of,  J.,  309. 
Circumcision,  L.,  15. 
Cleophas,  L.,  145. 
Clothes,  Jewish,  M.,  261. 
Coats,  Jewish,  L.,  28. 
Comforter,  Nature  of  the  (See  Holy 

Ghost),  J.,  17S. 
Commandment,  The  great,  Mk.,  53, 

54. 
Commerce,  in  the  temple, 
Commission  of  the  Seventy,  L.,  60- 

Commission  of  the  Twelve,  M.,  133 ; 

L.,  55. 
Corban,  Rabbinical  law  of,  Mk.,  3.3. 
Courage,   Christian,   source  of,  J., 

201. 
Courtyard,  Oriental,  M.,  303. 
Creeds,  Necessity  of,  J.,  112. 
Crosses,  Description  of,  M.,  315. 
Cyrenius,  governor  of  Syria,  L.,  18. 

«  D. 

Dalmanutha,  M.,  51 ;  Mk.,  .37. 

Dead  Sea,  M.,  51. 

Death,  Jewish  conception  of,  J.,  173. 

Decapolis,  M.,  51. 

Dedication,  Feast  of  the,  J.,  131. 

Demoniacal  possession,  M.,  123-125; 

Mk.,6. 
Denarius,  Value  of,  M., 221, 242 ;  J., 

79. 
DevU,  The,  M.,  76. 
Dining  customs  in  the  East,  L.,  86. 
Discii3es,  Call  of  the  four,  L.,.35,  36. 
Divine  presence  : 

Condition  of  enjoying,  J.,  180, 

81,  86,  87,  89. 
Power  of,  J.,  187-88. 
Divorce,  Christ's  law  of,  M.,  222, 

225  ;  Mk.,  46. 

E. 

Elders,  M.,  205. 

Election,  Doctrine  of,  J.,  89,  190, 

20:3-4. 
Emmaus,  M.,  51  ;  L.,  145. 
End  of  the  world,  M.,  258 ;  L.,  127- 

1.30. 
Enemies,   Christian    treatment  of, 

M.,  96-98. 
Enon,  M.,  51 ;  J.,  47. 
Ephraim.  M.,  51  ;  J.,  149. 
Epistles,  Nature  ofs  M.,  11. 
Espousals,  Jewish,  M.,  55. 
Essends,  M.,  69. 

Eternal  life,  J.,  44,  75,  83,  86,  203-4. 
Ewers,  J.,  31. 
Excommunication,  Jewish,  J.,  122. 


F. 

Faith : 

Christ's  exhortation  to,  Mlc  ,  52. 

Nature  of,  J.,  84,  145, 161. 

(.'ontrasted  with  right,  J.,  2.34. 
Falling  from  grace,  J.,  188. 
Fasting,  Laws  for,  M.,  109,  129. 
Fasts,  L.,  114. 
Feeding  of  the  five  thousand  (See 

under  Miracles). 
Feet-washing,  Ceremony  of,  J.,  165. 
Feet-washing,  Oriental,  J.,  163. 
Fire  : 

Biblical  mention  of,  M.,  183. 

Utensils,  J.,  819. 
Fishing,  Oriental,  L.,  37. 
Forgiveness,  Nature  of,  L.,  141. 
Frankincense,  M.,  62. 
Free-wiU,  Doctrine  of,  L.,  95  ;  J.,  94. 
Funerals  of  the  East,  L.,  45. 
Future  punishment,  M.,  145,  877; 
J.,  188. 

G. 

Gabriel,  L.,  10. 
Gadara,  M.,  51. 
Galilee  : 

Christ's  circuit  of,  L.,  35,  52. 

Sea  of.  M.,  57  ;  Mk.,  8. 
Gambling  at  the  cross,  J.,  223. 
Generation,  Book  of  the,  M.,  53. 
Gennesaret : 

Lake  of,  Mk.,  8. 

Land  of,  M.,  192. 
Gerizim,  Movuit  of,  J.,  55. 
Gethsemane : 

Christ's  agony  in,  Mk.,  58. 

Garden  of,  M.,  291. 
Gnosticism,  J.,  13,  14. 
God: 

Kingdom  of,  M.,  103,  235  ;  L., 
57,  110-112. 

Knowledge  of,  J.,  175,  176. 

Nature  of,  J.,  14,  15,  37,  74,  1.30. 

Trinity    of    (See    Christ,  Holy 
Ghost),  J.,  14-16. 
Golgotha,  M.,  314. 
Gospels  : 

The  four,  M.,  11. 

Harmony  of  the,  M. ,  38^10, 44-66. 

Origin  of  the,  M.,  36-38. 

Relations  of  the,  M.,  34-.36. 
Gospel  of  the  Infancy,  L.,  6. 
Gospel  of  John  : 

Authenticity  of,  J.,  3,  6-8,  340. 

Object  of,  J.,  12,  2.34. 

Supplemental    chapter    to,    J., 
235. 
Gospel  of  Luke,  Authorship  of,  L.,  3. 
Gospel  of  Mark  : 

Authorship  of,  Mk.,  3. 

Characteristics  of,  Mk.,  4. 
Gospel  of  Matthew : 

Author  of,  M.,  49. 

Characteristics  of,  M.,  49. 

Language  of,  M.,  49. 

Obiect  of,  M.,  49. 

Origin  of,  M.,  .36-.38. 
Grace,  Meaning  of,  J.,  21. 
Grain,  Oriental  sale  of,  L.,  43. 
Grave,  Jewish,  J.,  143. 

H. 

Hades,  L.,  105. 

Heathen  and  the  Gospel,  L.,  33. 

Heaven : 

Christ's    teaching   concerning, 

J.,  173. 
Discourse  on,  Mk.,  43,  44. 
Kingdom  of,  M.,  66,  85,  90,  137, 

154,  110-114. 
Place  of,  M.,  102. 


Hell,  M.,  91,119. 
Herod  the  Great,  L.,  7. 
Herods,  The.  M.,58,  59. 
Herod,  Death  of,  M.,  63. 
Herod  Archelaus,  M.,  64. 
High-in-iest,  M.,  280;  L.,  27. 
Holy  Ghost  : 

Bestowal  of    on    disciples,  J., 

230. 
Blasphemy  against,  M.,  169. 
Character  and  office  of,  J.,  179- 

80,  195-197. 
Manifestation  of,  J.,  182. 
Relation  of  to  the  Father,  J., 
192. 
Holy  of  Holies  (See  Temple). 
Housetop,  Eastern,  L.,  74. 
Humility,  Commendation   of,   M., 

214,  241. 
Husks,  L.,  96. 

Hypocrisy,  Rebuke  of,  M.,  109  ;  L., 
73. 

I. 

Idumea,  Mk.,  14. 
Incarnation  (See  Christ). 
Incense,  Service  of,  L.,  5. 
Infancy,  Gospel  of  the,  L.,  6. 
Inn,  Jewish,  L..  19. 
Issue  of  blood,  L.,  54 

J. 

Jacob,  Well  of,  J.,  52. 

Jairus'  daughter,  L.,  54. 

James,  M.,  148. 

James  the  son  of  Alphaens,  M.,  149. 

Joanna,  wife  of  Chuza,  L.,  53. 

Jericho,  M.,  51  ;  L.,  116. 

Jerusalem : 

Conquest  of,  L.,  141. 

Desolation  of,  L.,  123. 

Road  from  Jericho  to,  L.,  65. 

Siege  of,  M.,  261. 

Site  of,  M.,  278. 
Jesus  (See  Christ). 
John  : 

The  Apostle,  M.,  148 ;  J.,  4. 

Character  of,  J.,  5. 

Gospel  of  (See  Gospel  of  John). 
John  the  Baptist : 

Character  of,  M.,  65. 

Death  of,  M.,  189  ;  Mk.,  29 ;  L., 
55. 

Emha,-sy  to  Jesus,  M.,  153. 

Father  of,  L.,  7. 

Imprisonment  of,  M.,  150. 

Mes.xage  of,  L.,  47. 

Ministry  of,  M,,  69  ;  L.,  30 ;  J.,  50. 
Jordan,  M.,  53,  67. 
Joseph  of  Arimathea,  J.,  226. 
Joy,  Christian,  J.,  189. 
Judas  Iscariot : 

Character  of,  M.,  150,  307. 

Destruction  of,  J.,  207. 

Death  of,  M.,  307. 

Repentance  of,  M.,  306. 

Treachery  of,  M.,  58. 
Judea,  M.,  52,  65. 
Judgment: 

Christ's  description  of  the,  M., 
275-277. 

Nature  of  the,  J.,  161. 
Judgment  seat,  Roman,  J.,  221. 

K. 

Key,  Description  of  ancient,  M.,  203. 

L. 

Lamps,  ancient.  M.,  270. 
Lanterns,  J.,  212. 


2U 


INDEX. 


Law  and  the  Gospel,  M.,  80. 
Lazarus,  J.,  130. 

Lazaru:^,  Kesurrection  of  (See  Mira- 
cles). 
Lebbajus,  M.,  149. 
Lepers,  L.,  109. 
Leprosy.  M.,  118. 
Levi  (See  Matthew). 
Levite,  L.,  66. 
Lilies,  M.,  107;  L.,  77. 
Locusts,  M.,  67. 
Lord's  Prayer,  M.,  101-105. 
Lord's  Supper,  The : 

Ceremony  of,  The,  L..  131;  J.,  92. 

Institution  of  the,  M.,  283-388 ; 
Mk.,  58;  J.,  162. 

Time  of  the,  M.,  286  ;  J.,  169, 
217,  221. 
Love: 

Commanded,  M.,  344. 

Test  of,  M.,  146. 
Luke,  Gospel    of  (See   Gospel   of 
Luke). 

M. 

Magdala,  M.,  52. 

Magi,  The,  M.,  59,  60^ 

Mammon,  M.,  106. 

Manger,  Eastern,  L.,  19. 

Manuscripts,  M.,  27,  28. 

Mariolatry,  L.,  70. 

Mark,  Gospel    of  (See   Gospel  of 

Mark). 
Marriage : 

Ancient  form  of,  J.,  118. 
Christ's    law    of,  M.,  222-225 ; 

Mk.,  46. 
Eastern  ceremony  of,  M.,  269, 

272;  L.,77. 
Jewish  ceremony  of,  M.,  129. 
Martha  and  Mary,  L.,  67,  68. 
Mary  Magdalene,  M.,  320:  L.,  53; 

J.,  228. 
Mary's  hymn  of  praise,  L.,  14. 
Matthew : 

Character  of,  M.,  149. 
CaU  of ,  M. ,  125 ;  L. ,  38 ;  Mk. ,  125. 
Gospel  of  (See  Gospel  of  Mat- 
thew). 
Meals,  Jewish,  J.,  168. 
Medicine,  Mk.,  22. 
Meekness,  Nature  of,  M.,  85. 
Mercy,  Nature  of,  M.,  86,  251. 
Messiah,  The  Jewish,  J.,  100. 
Mill,  Eastern,  M.,  206. 
Minister,  Meaning  of  the  term,  L.,  5. 
Mint,  M.,  280. 
Miracles : 

Barren  fig-tree  cursed,  Mk.,  50, 

51. 
Christ  stills  the  tempest,  M.,  121 : 

L..  53. 
Cure  of  the  infirm  woman,  L., 

81,  82. 
Cure  of  the  issue  of  blood,  Mk., 

21-23. 
Feeding  of  the  five   thousand, 
M.,  191;  Mk.,  30;  L.,  55;  J., 
76-81. 
Feeding  of  the  four  thousand, 

M.,  195  ;  Mk.,  35. 
Blind  Bartimeus   healed,  Mk., 

119. 
Draft  of  fishes— first,  L.,  35,  .36. 
Draft  of  fishes— second,  J.,  237. 
Healing  of  the  blind  man,  Mk., 

38  ;  L.,  115. 
Healing  of  the  centurion's  ser- 
vant, M.,  117;  L.,44. 
Healing  of  the  centurion's  son, 

J.,  61,  62. 
Healing  of  deaf  and  dumb,  Mk., 
34. 


Miracles : 

Healing  of  the  demoniac,  M., 

121,  all  ;  Mk.,  20;  L.,  .35,  53. 
Healing  of  the  leper,  L.,  37. 
Healing  of  the  lunatic  boy,  M., 

40;  L.,56. 
Healing  of  the  man  born  blind, 

J.,  118,  124. 
Healing  of  the  paralytic,  M.,  125; 

Mk.,9-ia;  L.,  37. 
Healing  of  Peter's  mother-iu- 

law,  M.,  119  ;  L..  35. 
Healing  of  the  ten  lepers,  L., 

108. 
Healing  of  the  withered  hand, 

M..  16.3. 
Raising    of    Jairus'    daughter, 

Mk.,  22,  24,  25. 
Raising  of  the  widow's  son,  L., 

45. 
Resui-rection  of  Lazarus,  J.,  135, 

145-147. 
Water  tm-ned  into  wine,  J.,  30- 

.33. 
Walking  on  the  sea,  M.,  191 ; 

Mk.,  30  ;  J.,  82. 
Miracles  : 

Christ's  use  of,  J.,  62. 
Truth  of  the,  M.,  166. 
Money-changers,  M.,  274  ;  J.,  37. 
Mountof  Olives,  L.,  123. 
Mourning  : 

Christian  rites  of,  M.,  85. 
Eastern  ceremony  of,  Mk.,  24. 
Rabbinical  rites  of,  J.,  1,39. 
Mm-der,  Laws  against,  M.,  91-93. 
Myrrh,  M.,  62. 

N. 

Nain,  M.,52;  L.,45. 

Nathauael,  J.,  27. 

Nazareth,  M.,  52,  64  ;  L.,  11,  34  ;  J., 

27. 
New  Testament : 

Authority  of,  M.,  13. 

Canon  of  M.,  17-25. 

Composition  of,  M.,  11. 

English  version  of,  M.,  28-81. 

Inspiration  of,  M.,  14-17. 

Interpretation  of,  M.,  31-34. 

Nature  of,  M.,  11,  12. 

Origin  of,  M.,  13. 

Text  of,  M..  25-28. 
Nicodemus,  J.,  40. 

O. 

Obedience,  M.,  112. 
Oven,  An  Eastern,  L.,  77. 

P. 

Palestine,  Government  of,  L.,  27. 
Palsy,  Mk.,  10. 
Parables,  The : 

Barren  fig-tree,  the,  L.,  80,  81. 

Candle,  The,  L.,  53. 

Drag-net,  The,  M.,  185. 

Good  Samaritan,  The,  L.,  64-66. 

Great  supper.  The,  L.,  87. 

Hid  treasures.  The,  M.,  184,185. 

Householder,  The,  L.,  44. 

Laborers,  The,  M.,  2.30,  231. 

Leaven,  The,  M.,  181 ;  L.,  82. 

Lost  coin.  The,  L.,  94. 

Lost  sheep.  The,  L.,  92,  93. 

Mustard    seed.    The,  M.,    180; 
Mk.,  18  ;  L.,  82. 

Pearl,  The,  M.,  184, 185. 

Prodigal  son.  The,  L.,  95-99. 

Rich  fool.  The,  L.,  75,  76. 

Rich  man  and  Lazarus,  L.,  103- 
106. 


Parables,  The : 

Seed    growing    secretly,   The, 
Mk.,  17. 

Sheepfold    and    shepherd,    J., 
125-131. 

Sower,  The,  M.,  175-179  ;  Mk., 
16  ;  L.,  53. 

Tares,  The,  M.,  179. 

Ten  pounds,  The,  L. .  120. 

Ten  talents.  The,  M.,  272-275. 

Ten  virgins.  The,  M.,  268-272. 

Two  debtors,  The,  L.,  50,  51. 

Two  sons.  The,  M.,  235. 

Unclean  spirit.  The,  M.,  172. 

Unjust  steward.  The,  L.,  99-102. 

Unmerciful    servant,   The,  M., 
219. 

Vine   and    branches.   The,    J., 
185-6. 

Wedding  feast.  The,  M.j238-241. 

Wicked  Husbandman,  The,  M., 
236-238  ;  M.,  53  ;  L.,  125. 
Paradise,  L.,  142, 143. 
Passover : 

Day  of,  L.,  131. 

Feast  of,  J.,  6.3,  78. 
Patience,  Christian,  L.,  58,  128. 
Peace,  Christian,  J.,  182. 
Penitent  thief,  L.,  142, 143. 
Penny,  Value  of  Jewish,  J.,  79. 
Pentateuch,  Authorship  of,  J.,  76. 
Pentecost,  Feast  of,  J.,  63. 
Perea,  M.,52;  L.,  60. 
Persecution  : 

Foretold,  J.,  193. 

How  to  be  borne,  J.,  191-1»4. 

Character  of,  M.,  135,  148 ;  Mk., 

7;  L.,  1.33. 
Commission  of,  ,L,  238-9. 
Confession  of  Christ  by,  Mk., 

39;  L.,55. 
Denial  of  Christ  by,  M.,  301-304; 

L.,  1.33. 
Founder  of  the  Church,  M.,  201- 

203. 
Name  changed,  J.,  26. 
Walking  on  the  sea,  M.,  30 ;  J., 
121. 
Pharisees,  The: 
Sect  of,  M.,  68. 
Baflled  by  Christ,  M.,  245. 
Discourse  against,  L.,  71. 
PhiUp,  M.,149. 
Phylacteries,  M.,  247. 
Pontius  Pilate,  M.,  305 ;  J.,  321-2. 
Poor  of  the  East,  L.  88,  89. 
Porter  of  the  East,  L.,  72. 
Pound,  L.,  121. 
Prayer : 

Bible  doctrine  of,  L.,  112-114  ; 

J.,  177. 
In  the  name  of  Christ,  J.,  177. 
Necessity  of,  M.,  Ill,  99-105; 

L.,  130. 
Promises  to,  J.,  177-8,  199-200. 
True  spuit  of  (See  Christ),  L., 
68. 
Preachers  (See  Christian  Ministry), 
Priesthood,  The,  M.,  61 ;  L.,  7. 
Prophecy : 

Office  of,  J.,  184. 
Fulfillment  of,  in  N.  T.,  J.,  225. 
Proselytes,  M.,  249. 
Publicans,  M.,  97,  126  ;  L.,  28,  91. 
Purification  of  the  Jewish  mother, 

L.,  22. 
Purple  and  fine  linen,  L.,  104. 


R. 


Rabbi,  M.,  247. 
Rama,  M.,  63. 


INDEX. 


245 


Beligion  : 

Fruits  of,  M.,  113. 

Joyousiie.ss  of,  M.,  239. 

Test  of,  M.,  113. 
Repentance : 

Law  of,  L.,  !H). 

Nature  of,  ]\l.,  65- 

Necessity  of,  L.,  80. 
Revelation,  Book  of,  M.,  11. 
Resurrection  : 

Nature  of,  Mk.,  47,  W  ;  L.,  144  ; 
J.,  (i!). 

Propliecy  of,  Mk.,  43.  47. 
Revenge,  Laws  against.  M.,  94-96. 
Riches,  Christ's  teachings  concern- 
ing, M.,  228 ;  Mk.,  47. 
Ritualism,  Christ's  teachings  con- 
cerning, Mk.,  31,  32. 
Roofs,  Jewish,  Mk.,  10. 
Ruler,   The  rich   young,  M.,   226; 
Mk.,46  ;  L.,  115 

S. 
Sabbath  : 

Christian  use  of  the,  L.,  84. 

Laws  of  the  Christian,  M.,  161- 
l&i;  Mk..  13;  L.,:«. 

Pharisaic,  The,  M.,  120  ;  J.,  66. 
Sacrifices,  J.,  37. 
Sadducees,  M.,  68,  69. 
Sadducees  silenced,  M.,  243;  Mk.,  53. 
Salim,  M.,  52;  J.,  47. 
Salutations  of  the  Jews,  L.,  61. 
Salvation,  Conditions  of,  M.,  276  ; 

L.,  83. 
Samaria  : 

History  of,  M.,  52  ;  J.,  51. 

Woman  of,  The.  J.,  50. 
Samaritans  : 

Character  of,  L.,  66. 

Christ's  visit  to,  L.,  57. 
Sanctiflcation,  means  of,  J.,  187. 
Satan  : 

Fall  of,  L.,  63. 

Nature  of,  J.,  158. 

Personality  of,  J.,  115. 
Scorpions,  L.,  69. 
Scourging,  M.,  .331. 
Scribes,  M.,  61,  90. 

Denunciation  of  the,  Mk.,  54  ; 
L,,  126. 
Self-righteousne88,ChriBt's  dealings 

with.  L.,64. 
Self-sacrifice  commanded,  M.,  206. 
Sepulchre,  Jewish,  J.,  143. 


Sermon  on  the  Mount,  L.,  40. 
Servants  of  the  East,  L.,  107. 
Sheba,  Queen  of,  M.,  171. 
Sheep-fold,  Eastern.  J.,  125. 
Shekel,  Value  of,  M.,  281. 
Shepherds  of  the  East,  L.,  19,  93  ; 

J.,  126. 
Shoes,  Jewish,  M.,  70. 
Sidon,  M.,  52. 
Sieve,  Ancient,  L  ,  133. 
Siloam,  Pool  of,  J.,  120. 
Simon  the  Canaanite,  M.,  150. 
Simon  Cyrene,  M.,  314. 
Simon  the  leper,  M.,  280. 
Sin: 

Christ's  laws  for  the  prevention 
of,  Mk.,  45. 

Of  rejecting  Christ,  J.,  191-92. 

Power  to  remit  and  retain,  J., 
231-32. 
Skepticism,  L.,  106. 
SkifC,  Ancient,  M.,  19. 
Sou  of  Man  (See  Christ). 
Sorrow,  ministry  of,  J.,  199. 
Soul  : 

Distinction  of  the,  J.,  188. 

Nature  of  the,  J.,  157. 
Sparrows  in  Market,  L.,  75. 
Spikenard,  J.,  152. 
Star  of  the  East,  M.,  61. 
Steward,  L.,  100. 
Swaddling-clothes,  L.,  18. 
Swearing,  Laws  against,  M.,  93. 
Swine,  Flesh  of,  M.,  122. 
Sycamore  tree,  L.,  107,  118. 
Sychar,  M.,  52  ;  J.,  51. 
Synagogues,  M.,  81. 
Synagogue,  Uppermost  seat  of  the, 

L.,  72. 
Syro-Phoenician  woman,  M.,  34. 

T. 

Tabernacles,  Feast  of  the,  J.,  63, 95, 

102. 
Talent,  Value  of  the,  M.,  220,  273. 
Tares,  M.,  179. 

Taxation,  Roman,  M.,  126  ;  L.,  17. 
Temple  : 

Description  of,  J.,  34-.37. 

Site  of,  L.,  127. 

Pinnacle  of  the,  M.,  77. 

Vail  of  the,  M..  319. 
Temple  of  Herod,  M.,  256. 
Thomas,  M.,  149  :  J..  13;i,  174,  233. 
Threshing  in  the  East,  M.,  71. 


Tiberias : 

City  of,  J.,  84. 
Sea  of,  J.,  78. 
Tithes,  L.,  114. 
Title  on  the  cross,  J.,  223. 
Tombs,  Jewish,  M.,  122 ;  Mk  ,  21. 
62,63.  ' 

Traders  cast  from  the  temple,  Mk., 

51. 
Transfiguration,  The,  M.,  207-210  ; 

Mk.,  40  ;  L.,  55. 
Treasury,  Jewish,  J.,  110. 
Tribute,  M.,  211. 
Triclinium.  L.,  85. 
Trinity,  Doctrine  of  the,  J.,  14-16, 

133,  ia3. 
Twelve  Apostles : 

Commission    of   the,    M.,  134, 

147-50. 
Inspiration  of,  M.,  141. 
Tyre.  M.,  52,  157. 

U. 

Unleavened  bread,  Day  of,  M.,  382. 
Upper  chamber,  L.,  132. 
Usury,  M.,  274. 

V. 

Vineyards  of  the  East,  M.,  2:36. 

W. 

Wailing  place,  Jewish,  L.,  140. 
Water-pot,  J.,  51. 
Well,  Ancient,  J.,  52. 
Well,  Jacob's,  J.,  52. 
Wine  : 

Bible  commands  concerning,  J., 

32,  33. 
Christ's  teachings  concerning, 
J.,  32,  33. 
Winnowing,  Oriental,  L.,  23. 
Woman,  a  Jewish,  L.,  52. 
WordofGod,  J.,1.3,  14. 
World,  End  of  the  (See  End  of  the 

World). 
Worship,  True  nature  of,  M.,  116  : 

J.,  56. 
Writing  materials,  L.,  15, 101. 

Z. 

Zaccheus,  L.,  118. 
Zncharias,  M.,  253  ;  L.,  7, 16. 
Zebedee,  M.,  81. 
Zebedee,  Sons  of,  Mk.,  47. 


BS2615.A132  . 

An  illustrated  commentary  on  the  bospei 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1012  00029  9679 


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